- Drug counterfeiting generates $1.5 billion in profits on the black market annually.
- This activity is not only illegal but also puts people’s health at risk.
- Blockchain technology also works to keep track of the entire drug process.
There are serious problems that have intensified in recent years and one of them is the drug counterfeiting. Along with other variants such as theft and smuggling, they are high-impact crimes that also put the health of millions of people at risk. While the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation due to the great shortage of active ingredients, the decrease in drug inventories and the economic difficulties that affected several regions.
In this regard, Guillermo Bilbao, Director of Health at Minsait, recalls that for many patients it has become complicated get your meds. The clearest cases are the parents of children with cancer who have had to hold public demonstrations to make themselves known.
Drug counterfeiting, an expanding illegal business
This combination of factors has contributed to the rapid growth of an illegal market that yields juicy profits. Globally, there is a continuing increase in the sale of apocryphal drugs. It is estimated that the counterfeiting of medicines generates profits close to $1,500 million dollars annually.
In Mexico things are no different. The National Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (CANIFARMA) reports that around 8 million people purchase stolen or counterfeit medicines. That is why alerts are constantly issued for oncological drugs, antihypertensives, antibiotics, antiretrovirals and vaccines, among many others.
What are the repercussions of a problem of this nature? They are very broad, from a null effect on the patient’s body, to put your health at serious risk. The reputation of brands is also seriously affected: from the loss of credibility in the treatments, to the reduction of their sales and income, as well as a negative impact on their research and development initiatives.
For this task, technology has a fundamental role since it allows strictly monitor each pharmaceutical product in its journey in order to guarantee its integrityand that it is not altered or falsified, in addition to not representing risks to the health of the population.
The role of new technologies
Traceability, which allows a detailed follow-up of its journey from start to finish, is a process that takes advantage of innovations such as blockchainor blockchain, which has been successfully applied in the pharmaceutical sector, largely thanks to its ability to radically change business models and enhance interoperability between systems.
In this way, it is possible to integrate a large volume of information and guarantee that it cannot be altered and offers high levels of transparency and auditability, critical factors for the production and distribution of medicines.
Traceability makes it possible to follow the digital footprint left by the route of a medicine, recording information on each movement that it has had and with each member of the long distribution chain.
In this way it is also possible prevent drug counterfeiting, detect if a batch has been stolen or if it is a product that has been illegally introduced to the market. For distributors, it is essential to have access to precise information on the route of the drugs, the routes followed by the trucks, if they were diverted, the expiration date and inventory movements, in order to guarantee that they reach their destination. without having been stolen or altered.
Even in the case of vaccines against COVID-19for example, it is possible to have a detailed report, for example, of whether the biological was at the indicated temperature (cold chain), whether the freezing system always worked or was turned off at some point.
In addition to processes and technology, traceability is supported by organizational culture and regulations. This last component is essential because it will establish the rules of the game to which the pharmaceutical industry and public health agencies will have to adhere, and which are constantly evolving.