Nearly 3 percent of pharmaceuticals from licensed outlets are counterfeit, though a greater portion failed tests assessing their quality, according to a new study conducted by Ministry of Health officials and Japanese researchers.
The study – published in this month’s issue of Pharmaceutical Research, an official journal of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists – drew from 710 pharmaceutical samples taken between 2006 and 2008 in all eight districts of Phnom Penh as well as in Kandal, Takeo and Kampong Speu provinces.
All samples were purchased from licensed outlets.
Researchers found that there were “counterfeit medicines among commonly used lifesaving medicines, such as antibiotics, analgesics and anti-parasitics”.
In quality testing, 4.6 percent of the samples failed a high-performance liquid chromatography test for active ingredients, while 8.4 percent failed in solubility tests.
Pieter van Maaren, country representative for the World Health Organisation, said that drugs that failed quality testing were just as dangerous as counterfeit ones.
“Do not underestimate the importance of substandard medications because they’re equally as damaging as counterfeit ones,” he said.
Heng Bun Keat, director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Drugs and Food, said the study’s numbers marked an improvement over years past and credited the government with making progress.
“The reduction of fake medicine to 3 percent is the result of the government’s efforts, including the Inter-Ministerial Committee to Fight against Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines,” he said.
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