Stakeholders in the health sector have been told to worry more about substandard drugs than counterfeits. This is the outcome of a new study by a team of researchers from the University of Nigeria, Enugu; and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
According to the study, which analysed more than 3,000 anti-malarial drugs purchased in Enugu, Enugu State, there are more substandard medicines in Nigeria than fakes.
With 48 million cases and 180,000 deaths per year, the World Health Organisation estimates that Nigeria is the single most heavily malaria-burdened country in the world.
The researchers discovered that substandard or degraded drugs were more prevalent than falsified ones in Enugu. Poor quality drugs were also reportedly found in patent medicine stores and not in pharmacies.
A drug quality team of the Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy Consortium analysed 3,024 anti-malarials containing artemisinin, the component that makes malaria treatment effective.
While researchers found 1.2 per cent of the samples to be falsified and 1.3 per cent to be degraded, they insisted that what should raise bigger concerns is the 6.8 per cent substandard products which leave patients at risk of not receiving the correct treatment dose and potentially contributing to the development of resistance to the main drug used to treat malaria.
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