Bangkok Post - August 9, 2007
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul

"This problem should be seriously addressed because it tarnishes the country's image and drug manufacturing standards, especially when Thailand is still under the Priority Watch List of the US Trade and Representatives in which intellectual property rights are very much involved," he said at a meeting on good manufacturing practices yesterday.

Fake pharmaceutical medicines can often contain dangerous or ineffective substances that can cause illness, injury and even death.

Mr Praphon said that in Thailand, most erectile dysfunction medication, malaria and tuberculosis drugs heavily marketed via the internet are fakes. Some are sent through courier services, the general mail or are on shop shelves.

"Pharmaceutical sales in Thailand are worth about 80 billion baht [a year]. But the fake drugs trade can generate higher profits," he said.

The FDA official also said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently inspected the Cambodian pharmaceuticals market and reported that most of the counterfeit drugs, including antibiotics, penicillin, paracetamol and vitamin C tablets, were produced by illegal factories in Thailand that were already shut down.

The FDA is in the process of investigating if any registered pharmaceutical firms were involved in the production of fake drugs.

However, it is not just Thailand that is suffering the effects of fake drugs. Reports of the problem are increasing rapidly around the world, especially among developing countries. In Asia and Latin America for example, counterfeit sales account for 30% of the market, according to the WHO.

FDA secretary-general Siriwat Thiptaradol said checkpoints have been set up along border provinces to try and stem the trafficking of fake drugs.

But he conceded that counterfeit malaria, Aids, tuberculosis and bird flu drugs were a big problem, not only in Thailand but also in other developing countries.

Dr Siriwat said counterfeit drugs often had extremely varied compositions. Some contain totally inert substances like starch while others are made of cheap materials like paracetamol, he said.

"The poor could become victims of fake drugs that lead to health risks and can eventually cause death," he said.

Most fake products found in developed countries include steroids, hormones and allergy drugs, he said. India and China are known to be major bases of counterfeit drug manufacturing and trafficking, he added.

The International Narcotics Control Board, the Vienna-based drugs watchdog, last March released a report on lethal fake drugs worldwide, urging the UN and WHO to help member states which may not have sufficient resources to tackle the problem.

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