Speech On Counterfeit Medicine
In this era of advanced science and technology, quality use of medication is garnering increased attention. This is especially so in the government sector which has identified quality use of medication as a chief factor in ensuring reduced cost and quality healthcare in order to make the best possible use of medicines so as to improve health outcomes.[1] Quality use of medicine involves careful selection of management options wisely either by healthcare practitioner or the consumer, choosing suitable medicine when medicine is necessary and to use medicine safely and effectively to get the best possible result. As a part of the government’s initiatives to improve quality of drug use in Malaysia, a campaign known as “Know Your Medicine” or
…show more content…
An important point to be noted in achieving this is to tackle the problem of counterfeit medicine in Malaysia. Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine. It may be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient. They could have the right active ingredient but at the wrong dose. Counterfeit drugs are illegal and may be harmful to your health.[3] The advent of counterfeit medicine causes a myriad of consequences in both the economy and health of the public. One of the identified problems is antibiotic resistance which is caused by low doses of active ingredients in antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance caused by drug counterfeiting in developing countries has contributed a significant impact to the eradication of tuberculosis and malaria. Another potential harm caused by counterfeit medicine is therapeutic failure. This is associated with fake drugs containing insufficient or no active ingredient at all and may lead to life-threatening events. Toxicity is another concern when it comes to counterfeit medicine. Counterfeit drugs may contain toxic ingredients in replacement for the original active ingredients and adjuvant for the purpose of adulteration. It is estimated that the economic loss due to drug-counterfeiting is 75 billion US dollars in 2010. Due to counterfeiting, pharmaceutical companies are deprived from their profit of developing and marketing the drugs. This may in turn lead to loss of interest by the pharmaceutical companies to develop more new and effective drugs in the
An important point to be noted in achieving this is to tackle the problem of counterfeit medicine in Malaysia. Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine. It may be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient. They could have the right active ingredient but at the wrong dose. Counterfeit drugs are illegal and may be harmful to your health.[3] The advent of counterfeit medicine causes a myriad of consequences in both the economy and health of the public. One of the identified problems is antibiotic resistance which is caused by low doses of active ingredients in antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance caused by drug counterfeiting in developing countries has contributed a significant impact to the eradication of tuberculosis and malaria. Another potential harm caused by counterfeit medicine is therapeutic failure. This is associated with fake drugs containing insufficient or no active ingredient at all and may lead to life-threatening events. Toxicity is another concern when it comes to counterfeit medicine. Counterfeit drugs may contain toxic ingredients in replacement for the original active ingredients and adjuvant for the purpose of adulteration. It is estimated that the economic loss due to drug-counterfeiting is 75 billion US dollars in 2010. Due to counterfeiting, pharmaceutical companies are deprived from their profit of developing and marketing the drugs. This may in turn lead to loss of interest by the pharmaceutical companies to develop more new and effective drugs in the