Studies show counterfeit drugs hurt Kenyan lives, economy

One of the biggest problems facing pharmaceutical companies is counterfeiting. Vague laws and inadequate monitoring have negatively affected the growth of the sector, problems which Mr Manesh Patel says are compounded by daily operating issues such as the increasing cost of power.

Counterfeit medicines are deliber­ately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity or source: their quality is unpredictable as they may contain the wrong amount of active ingredients, wrong ingredients or no active ingredients.

A study of suspicious drugs collected between 2002 and 2010 in 11 African countries and Asia enroute to Africa, cited Kenya as one of the 11 African countries selling counterfeit anti-malaria drugs.

The Kenyan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry estimates that counterfeit pharmaceutical products account for approximately $130 million (Sh12.7 billion) annually in sales in the country.

Regionally, it is estimated that counterfeit products cost East African governments more than $500 million (Sh49 billion) in lost tax revenue annually.

It is estimated that between 100,000 and one million people die from counterfeit drugs every year around the world with hundreds more suffering disabilities and injuries.

“Because of inadequate regulation and enforcement, the quality, safety and efficacy of both imported and locally manufactured medicines in many developing countries cannot be guaranteed,” says the World Health Organisation (WHO).