CARIRI: Bogus drugs infecting TT

Counterfeit drugs are even bigger than the cocaine and guns trade worldwide according to chief executive officer of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) Liaquat Ali Shah.

During a news conference at CARIRI at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus yesterday, Ali Shah said counterfeit pharmaceuticals were a billion-dollar industry that was killing people worldwide. He said 97 per cent of online pharmacies were fake.

Ali Shah said counterfeiting pharmaceuticals was a relatively new area of concentration although it existed all over the world.

“We spend a lot of money breaking down conventional drugs like cocaine and heroin which everyone knows is big business. In an analogous form counterfeit drugs is bigger. Whereas cocaine and heroin may have cartels and focal points, this touches everything – the rent companies, the generic companies, the suitcase traders, even the pharmacists. That is frightening, but it is not recognised as a killer.”

He said some medications were mixed with substances such as concrete, gypsum and inks to make them seem authentic.

He added some medications did not have the key ingredients and, therefore, patients trying to control hypertension, diabetes or heart disease, were not able to get relief because they were not getting the right medication.

Ali Shah said CARIRI had state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and highly trained staff to treat with this.

“We can start the ball rolling. We are not a certifying body. We can create, on one side, some form of control because only what is measured can be improved, everything else is old talk. We want the public to be aware.”

Pharmacy management consultant Jameel Rahaman said the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Interpol had estimated that one million people died each year from taking counterfeit medicines, which was equivalent to two people every minute.

He said, “We sit right next door to Latin America which is the fastest growing region for drug counterfeiting. It is estimated that 15 to 30 per cent of the pharmaceuticals coming out of Latin America are fake. Our systems of regulation are lacking and there is a need to make the patients aware with the influx of suitcase trading and parallel importing. There are a lot of counterfeit drugs in TT. We have buried our heads in the sand for far too long.”