A rapid alert system to help Asian countries combat the growing threat of counterfeit medicines was launched at a workshop of the World Health Organization in Manila, the Philippines, this week. The new system enables information about counterfeit drugs to be rapidly reported to the relevant authorities in participating countries.
WHO estimates that 10% of all drugs sold globally are counterfeits and that the figure is as high as 25% in developing countries. Of particular concern in Asia is the increasing appearance of counterfeit malaria medications in countries of the delta of the Greater Mekong River, namely China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
“Studies indicate that up to 40% of artesunate based malaria medications are fake, especially in the Greater Mekong region. Lack of any active ingredient is a typical problem, but there are also fakes with the correct ingredients in insufficient dose or in fake packaging or drugs containing different active ingredients,” said Jun Yoshida, technical officer in pharmaceuticals at WHO in Manila.
Because fake drugs are often exported, effective collaboration between stakeholders in the whole region is needed, said Mr Yoshida. “So far there has been no alert system and so there was no incentive to report incidents and take the necessary action.” The rapid alert system was initiated by the Western Pacific regional office of WHO in collaboration with partner organisations.
The meeting brought together participants from regulatory bodies and related organisations, including non-government organisations, in WHO's Western Pacific and South East Asian regions, including India, China, and South East Asian countries. The meeting had three main objectives: to give an update on the current situation and action taken so far, to introduce the rapid alert system, and to identify other initiatives to combat counterfeit drugs.
Malaria is endemic in many Asian countries and resistance to chloroquine and other common antimalarial drugs is widespread, in part due to the increasing problem of counterfeit drugs lacking the correct dose of active ingredients.
Although malaria presents less of a social and economic burden in Asia than in Africa, it still has a widespread negative impact, with pregnant women and children younger than 5 years the most vulnerable. Cases in Asia were estimated to account for 25% of the world's clinical attacks in 2002.