Low penetration of drug authentication systems raises concerns about fake drugs  

Low penetration of Mobile Authentication Systems especially in rural areas in Nigeria is raising fresh fears over increased circulation of fake drugs, as a weak naira pushes up the cost of imported drugs. This is fuelling concerns that a resurgence of fake drugs may be just be setting in especially away from major city centres where there are limitations to verifying drug authenticity.

Recently, the council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) released a communiqué wherein it warned that the cost of drugs procured at the on-going forex exchange rates might become so exorbitant that it may lead to a massive resurgence of the fake drugs problem.

Increased adoption of MAS, an SMS based swift confirmation service provided by Sproxil, which allows consumers to verify the authenticity of drugs they are purchasing in major city centres have reduced circulation of fake drugs. According to Chinedum Chijioke, CEO of Sproxil, the company has generated over 300 million PINS for drugs on their platform. This has not been replicated in rural areas.

“The awareness may not be as high given the literacy levels of the people in the rural areas,”, Chijioke told BusinessDay in an interview.

He added, “The application of our service in the rural areas is different from the urban communities. Once people in the rural areas see our labels on the drugs, without verifying, they make an assumption that the drug is authentic. This makes it difficult for us to track verifications within that community and possibly intercept counterfeiting within that community.

Raising concern of the high cost of drugs, PSN warned that the high cost of drugs may erode all the gains made in checking fake drugs in Nigeria. It warned that manufacturers of fake drugs cash on the situation and bring cheaper fake brands and implored the government to intervene to improve access to forex for pharmaceutical companies.

Fake drugs persist in Nigeria. Last year, the National Agency for Foods, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),  said it confiscated fake drugs worth over $20million in five separate raids different locations in Asaba, Warri, Lagos, Onitsha and Jigawa.

 The United Nations warned that illicit manufacturing of narcotics and psychotropic drugs and substances were on the rise in a report published by International Narcotics Control Board.

 “In Nigeria, three laboratories illicitly manufacturing methamphetamine were dismantled in May 2015, bringing to 10 the total number of such laboratories dismantled in that country since 2011,” said Cristina Albertin, country representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Nigeria.