OECS calls for protection of its pharmaceutical market from counterfeit Drugs
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OECS calls for protection of its pharmaceutical market from counterfeit Drugs |
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Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - The 18th annual meeting of the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service Tenders and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) opened on Monday, November 1, 2004 in Castries.
Addressing the delegates, Director of the OECSPPS, Francis Burnett stressed the need to protect the OECSPPS Market for public sector pharmaceuticals from counterfeit drugs. Burnett, referring to the World Health Organisation revealed that counterfeit drugs account for about 7% of total sales in international commerce.
“There is approximately 28 billion dollars worth of counterfeit drugs circulating worldwide. We have been getting a lot of disturbing reports about counterfeiting anti-retroviral drugs for HIVAIDS, which is very distressing”, Burnett said.
To help protect its market, the OECSPPS has embarked upon a mechanism to ensure that all manufacturers of pharmaceuticals are regulated and registered by the Country Drug Regulatory Authority. This is to help ensure that products marketed in the OECS meet international standards and norms.
The OECSPPS market for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies realizes about 10 million EC dollars per year.
The TAC conference has so far reviewed the list of pharmaceutical suppliers over the last contract period. Nichole Felix, the Unit’s Research Quality Control Officer reported that approximately 80% of the suppliers have performed above average.
“We are pretty much satisfied with the most of the work we have been doing with them for the past contract cycle”-Felix
Suppliers of the OECS PPS Unit are assessed on a scale of 1-5 under several categories including shipment, invoicing, quality and expiry date.
On Friday November 5th, the OECSPPS TAC meeting climaxes with a lecture on Healthy Lifestyles for Preventing Chronic Disease by Dr. Geoffrey Frankson, a Medical Researcher from Trinidad.
Major health care workers will be among those attending the lecture. Burnett states that many chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are associated with lifestyles. He noted obesity as a lifestyle that is significantly linked to chronic diseases.
The OECS PPS has been able to maximize the health resources in the sub-region in reducing the unit cost of pharmaceuticals by about 40%. This has enhanced the purchasing power of and access to a variety of drugs for consumers.
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