Fight vs fake drugs a lopsided battle

The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) admitted yesterday its effort to curb fake medicines is a lopsided battle because the government lacks enough personnel to monitor the spread of counterfeit drugs in the country.

According to Nazarita Lanuza, director of BFAD Regulation Division 1, the agency only has 180 inspectors, not nearly enough to effectively monitor the entire country.

The inspectors are tasked to monitor over 27,000 drug stores, manufacturers and retail outlets or 25,000 medicines, 16,000 cosmetic products and 27,000 food products.

"This is really not enough. We need at least 400 more inspectors nationwide," she said during the launch by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) of its anti-counterfeiting campaign titled "Fake is Fatal."

Lanuza said they deem it necessary for the provincial inspectors to come from BFAD and not from the Department of Health (DOH), its mother agency, as the present setup goes.

BFAD is tasked to implement Republic Act No. 8203 or the "Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs" which is aimed at bringing down the P95-billion industry of counterfeit drugs in the country. — Sheila Crisostomo