Somali Medical Forums
Health Related Forums => Health News and Events => Topic started by: Admin on July 04, 2011, 05:02:12 PM
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By Mohamed Hassan, Correspondent, Somalia Report
Special to All Headline News
Somalia is a country ravaged by long-standing conflict. Ongoing war for the last 20 years is responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people, while thousands of others have fled the country. Add to those problems the widespread trade in counterfeit drugs that is considered responsible for the death and suffering of many people.
"We are living in a country where the easiest way to become a businessman is to install a pharmacy or a small kiosk selling medicine even if you have never been a nurse or never seen a doctor," Abdirizak Elmi, a resident in Mogadishu, told Somalia Report, blaming what he called unscrupulous businessmen for killing people in cold-blooded murder.
In Mogadishu, it is very hard to distinguish authentic medicine from fake drugs and it is common to hear that different capsules contain chalk, flour or other powdery substances.
"That is why patients are always in queue, regularly visiting doctors as they were not recovered from illness as a result of counterfeit drugs," said Dr. Awil Ahmed. "People should be aware of the fake medicines that could even kill people rather than curing," he added.
Counterfeit drugs are often imported from countries in Asia, Africa and Europe and sold openly in markets. Somalia has had no medical ethics enforcement agency for the last 20 years.
"Even in Mogadishu you have access to buy drugs banned worldwide including Femidol, Novelgin and excessive drugs like diazepam without medical prescription," Sahra Mohamed, a member of the medical staff at Banadir Maternity hospital in Mogadishu, told Somalia Report.
"These kind of businessman is run by people who do not care about the health and wellbeing of their people and they are money oriented, " she added.
It is also difficult to distinguish out-dated medicine because many of the people in this business use forged labels, changing the date of the expired medicine, and unaware civilians take it as genuine drug for treatment.
Since 1991, after the collapse of the military regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre, Somalia has had no quality control system or laboratories for analysis of medicines and imported food. This has resulted in the country becoming a booming market for counterfeits of different products including medicine.
World Health Organization officials, Somali health authorities and local NGOs have staged several campaigns to create awareness of the hazards of counterfeit drugs and their health risks, but the illegal trade continues, noted Dr. Mohamoud Fuje, head of the WHO country office in Mogadishu.
"Some people just want to became rich in one day, they do not care about the life of their fellow brothers," he said. "What is needed in Somalia is drug and quality control agency responsible for compiling standards and formulating regulations."
Some businessmen believe they performed a vital service when medicine was in a critical shortage in Somalia in the 1990's. They began importing medicine, thus securing the lives of thousands of people amid escalating civil unrest in the country.
"Among us there could some selfish greedy people who do not care about their people but most of us do our job properly," said Mohamed Alasow, who imports and distributes medicine in Mogadishu.
"We cannot deliberately kill our people because we know that this practice of counterfeiting medicine is far more dangerous than using lethal weapon," he said.
Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved
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You can see many online advertisements of fake drugs.
I would say that take a very care while purchasing these kind of drugs because it can harm your health.
Don't ever try to purchase drugs without prescription.
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Hi guys,....
I read out all the post very carefully.All the post very informational about the fake drugs and fake medicines.
Fake drugs and medicines very dangerous for good health.So we should be care careful.