Dubai: With the global phenomenon of counterfeit medicines continuing to be an issue affecting patient’s health and causing deaths around the world, the Emirates International Conference on Combating Drug Counterfeiting began in Dubai on Monday by discussing ways to reduce and stop the issue by proposing different solutions.
The two-day conference has international experts from the UAE, GCC, UK and other countries participating in the conference as well as representatives from apex health bodies like the World Health Organisation (WHO) discussing ways to combat the scourge.
At the opening ceremony of the first day of the conference, Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing Sector at the UAE Ministry of Health and also Chairman of the conference, explained how the UAE is actively working to combat the phenomenon of counterfeit drugs, referring to a statistic from WHO, which indicates that across two-thirds of the world, people die from consuming counterfeit medicines.
Dr Al Amiri revealed that China and Africa are the biggest suppliers of counterfeit drugs, which then make their way across to Europe. “Counterfeit medicines are a major problem facing developing and developed countries. These products are handled by mafias and they trick consumers who are unable to assess the quality of the medicine or differentiate between the real and counterfeit product,” said Dr Al Amiri.
He said that with 954 cases of counterfeit medicines seized in 2011 in East Asia, 381 cases in South America and 2.5 per cent coming from Arab countries, there is a real threat to people’s health internationally.
By countries sharing best practices and plans of action with each other, it can help combat the problem, he said.
