Author: Rema Nagarajan
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 9, 2009
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China-passes-off-fake-drugs-as-Made-in-India/articleshow/4633377.cms
Are fake drugs manufactured in China being
pushed into various African countries with the `Made in India' tag? The Indian
government has long suspected this to be the case, but it now has definite
evidence for the first time.
Last week, the National Agency for Food and
Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria issued a press release
stating that a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals
labelled `Made in India' were, in fact, found to have been produced in China.
New Delhi has registered ``strong protest''
with the Chinese mission and China's foreign trade ministry, according to
sources in the commerce ministry.
India's High Commissioner in the Nigerian
capital of Abuja, Mahesh Sachdev, had earlier written to then commerce secretary
GSK Pillai, alerting him to the large seizure: ``While this is a case of a
Chinese company exporting fake `Made in India' labelled medicines which has
been accidentally exposed, it is unlikely to be an isolated incident. Indeed
there is no reason for Nigeria to be the only country to be receiving such
consignments.''
His letter went on to say: ``Fake foreign-made
generics carrying `Made in India' label can do tremendous harm to our interests.
It not only dents our image and takes our legitimate market share, it also
erodes the distinction between generic and fake medicines that we have been
campaigning for at WHO and WTO''.
Commerce ministry sources said: ``We have
had many complaints about such fake drugs from China being offloaded as Indian
drugs in countries like Ghana, South Africa, Ivory Coast and West Africa -
in general, where India has a substantial market share. But so far there has
been no formal complaint. This is the first time that such a large international
consignment has been seized and this will be taken up strongly with the Chinese
side.''
Sachdev in his letter said that he had spoken
to the director-general of NAFDAC Dr Paul Orhii who said that the Nigerian
preference for generics made such cases of fake drugs more common. He expressed
NAFDAC's determination to curb circulation of substandard fake medicines.
India and China have been held primarily responsible
for fake drugs in the Nigerian market in particular and Africa in general.
About 60% of drugs in Nigeria are imported. Between 2001 and 2007, more than
30 Indian and Chinese companies were banned in Nigeria for exporting fake
drugs to the country.
However, Dr Mira Shiva of the Initiative for
Health Equity and Society (IHES) told TOI that both India and China being
large manufacturers of generics, multinational firms would look to discredit
the two countries and label their drugs as substandard, so that they would
have greater access to the African markets. She warned against the two countries
trying to run each other down before ascertaining the full facts in the case
to rule out any orchestration, but added that India ought to be more careful
to ensure the quality of the drugs exported as well as sold domestically.
