Counterfeit drugs at retailers

n Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has carried out an operation to identify fake pharmaceutical products in retail outlets using Thermo Fisher Scientific's handheld TruScan device.

A total of 220 products were scanned using the device, and 33 failed, said NAFDAC Director-General Dr. Paul Orhii in comments reported by the Daily Champion newspaper.

The products most commonly counterfeited, according to TruScan studies, included: the antifungal Fulcin (griseofulvin; a discontinued drug); various antibiotics including Ciprotab (ciprofloxacin), Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid), Ampiclox (ampicillin and cloxacillin) and Zinnat (cefuroxime); and the antimalarials Fansidar/Maloxine (sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine) and artesunate.

Dr. Orhii said that concerted action by NAFDAC and other enforcement agencies in Nigeria has reduced the incidence of counterfeit medicines in the supply chain to around 5 per cent in urban areas, rising to 10-12 per cent in rural villages.

The testing results were divulged in a NAFDAC press conference held to mark the seizure of hundreds of fake beverage products during routine surveillance of national highways over the holiday period.