Since Guyana does not have mechanisms in place to test the authenticity of drugs, PAHO Resident Representative, Dr. William Adu Krow says that Guyana can fall victim to the importation of fake drugs unless Guyana abides by the guidelines and suggestions of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and gets help to monitor the entry of drugs at the country’s entry ports.
“We don’t have the system that actually tests the drugs so we have to go with what we call the World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-approved drugs – drugs coming from a place where WHO has already ascertained that these drugs are not fake,” said Krow.
He said that there is a prevalence of fake drugs on the market and Guyana was not exempt from the problem.
“I think that it is a big issue here…I have advised Government about this and have spoken to the Minister (on this issue),” said Dr. Adu Krow. He pointed out that testing was limited in Guyana and that he had discussions with the Guyana Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran.
He made his remarks while speaking to media personnel at a PAHO workshop where he suggested that WHO pre-approved and procured drugs met safety regulations in the absence of the ability for Guyana to test drugs for authenticity and efficacy. Dr. Maria Sanchez, PAHO Advisor on Malaria said that there were indeed fake drugs in Guyana but it was not because of the Ministry of Health’s negligence or for any other reason.
“We know that there is not a problem with the medicine Government brings in because we test them in conjunction with the government but the miners choose to go and purchase over the counter drugs rather than going to the health centres to get the (good) drugs,” said Sanchez.
“As far as we know, everything is working well but we know that sometimes miners, in particular, in the case of malaria, go and buy drugs over the counter. This is something Government obviously has no control over,” she added.
“I wouldn’t buy treatment over the counter somewhere in Region Seven but some people do, but the govt definitely checks the drugs and we help them with that,” Dr. Sanchez pointed out while saying that some drugs were brought in from Venezuela outside of the Ministry’s remit and not by members of the Ministry of Health there.
“Now the problem in Guyana is that there are many people importing drugs by themselves,” said Dr. Adu Krow and urged that the situation also be addressed at Guyana’s ports of call.
He indicated that he had experience with discovering fake drugs while doing testing elsewhere on antibiotics and on drugs to treat malaria in children.
“We have to deal with the Port Authorities and the customs people who have to enforce that these people pay their import duties…We have to make sure that as they come they give us samples to be tested. I think that we need to start this and the time is right,” the PAHO Representative concluded.
