Substandard and Falsified Medical Products: Time to Arrest Their Growth

Dear Sir

Substandard and falsified medical products refer to those medications or products that are developed with the intention to duplicate or substitute certified products.[1] [2] Based on the incidents reported in the last quarter of the year 2022 and in January 2023, it was found that in excess of 300 people lost their lives across seven nations owing to the consumption of cough syrups, which had diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in significantly higher concentrations.[3] This calls for the need to take stringent and urgent measures to prevent, identify, and urgently respond to the incidents of such events in the future.[2] [3]

As it is a problem that involves multiple stakeholders, it is quite essential that we adopt a strategy that targets the involvement of all the concerned stakeholders.[1] [4] This has to begin with the involvement of policymakers, which must take necessary measures to identify and remove all substandard products, ensure circulation of only approved medical products, carry out periodic inspections of medicine production sites, expand the surveillance network in pharmaceutical markets, and ensure strict implementation of existing legal provisions, failing which offenders should be strictly punished.[4] [5]

The next important stakeholder is the manufacturing industry, which should purchase required chemicals from licensed suppliers, ensure holistic testing of the received chemicals, and maintain quality assurance standards, and all the records making the entire process accountable.[2] [3] [4] Finally, the distributors should check for signs of any contaminated product, engage in the distribution and sale of products approved by registered agencies, maintain records, and essentially involve trained personnel to monitor the entire process.[1] [2] [3] The role of each of these stakeholders is important and indispensable.[3] [4]

In conclusion, the circulation of substandard and falsified medical products in the commercial market is a major global public health hazard. This calls for the need to adopt a multipronged approach targeting different stakeholders to safeguard human lives.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.

• References

• 1 Nayyar GML, Breman JG, Mackey TK. et al. Falsified and substandard drugs: stopping the pandemic. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2019; 100 (05) 1058-1065
• 2 Callister LC. Substandard and falsified medical products: a global issue affecting the health of women and children. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs 2019; 44 (06) 361
• 3 World Health Organization. WHO urges action to protect children from contaminated medicines. 2023. Accessed June 9, 2023 at: https://www.who.int/news/item/23-01-2023-who-urges-action-to-protect-children-from-contaminated-medicines
• 4 Sakuda M, Yoshida N, Takaoka T. et al. Substandard and falsified medicines in Myanmar. Pharmacy (Basel) 2020; 8 (01) 45
• 5 Pisani E, Hasnida A, Rahmi M, Kok MO, Harsono S, Anggriani Y. Substandard and falsified medicines: proposed methods for case finding and sentinel surveillance. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2021; 7 (08) e29309

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
05. September 2023