HEALTH-MEXICO:
Internet Can Be a
Dangerous Pharmacy
By Diego Cevallos*
MEXICO CITY
(Tierramérica) - Mexico
is drafting measures to
regulate the sales of
pharmaceuticals over the
Internet: reforms have
been announced for laws
dating back to the
1980s, when the world
wide web did not yet
exist, and new
monitoring systems are
in the works to track
the who, how and what of
online sales.
Enlarge your penis. Want
to lose weight? Say
good-bye to impotence.
Who hasn't received
messages like this by
e-mail?
The sale of medications
over the Internet
involves thousands of
vendors and continues to
grow, fuelled by low
prices, lack of need for
a medical prescription
and a supposed guarantee
of anonymity. But the
medicine that is
purchased this way may
be adulterated, it may
have been stolen, it may
be contraband, or may
simply have passed its
expiration date, and in
the worst case may
contain dangerous or
even deadly compounds.
The World Health
Organisation (WHO)
estimates that 10
percent of the
medications sold
worldwide are fake,
although in some
developing countries
that proportion can
reach 25 percent. And
half of the medicines
sold over the Internet
on web sites that hide
their real address are
believed to be fakes.
A study published last
month by the European
Alliance for Access to
Safe Medicines says that
62 percent of the
pharmaceuticals sold
online are false and do
not meet the minimum
standards for health,
including those intended
to treat serious
cardiovascular,
respiratory,
neurological and
psychiatric conditions.
Ninety-five percent of
the online pharmacies
studied operate
illegally, and 94
percent of their web
sites do not have an
identifiable
pharmaceutical chemical
in their product. More
than 90 percent provide
people with
prescription-only
medications without
requiring a
prescription.
In Mexico, which has the
largest pharmaceutical
market in Latin America
and ninth in the world,
annual sales of
medications represent
about 9 billion dollars.
But because of sales of
fake medications the
drug companies lose 700
to 900 billion dollars
annually.
Furthermore, every so
often pharmaceutical
shipments are reported
stolen, and 40 percent
of the medications that
expire end up in the
garbage, in illegal
markets or sold on the
Internet.
The government and
non-governmental
organisations warn of
the dangers surrounding
online sales of drugs,
but general measures to
fight the trade have yet
to be defined, although
there are some isolated
efforts.
Mexico will confront the
phenomenon, although
authorities,
pharmaceutical
executives and activists
consulted by
Tierramérica admit that
it will be very
difficult to shut down
Internet sales.
Before the end of the
year, Mexican health
authorities will present
new Internet monitoring
and tracking systems.
"There will be a new
focus on this reality,"
Luis Hernández, an
advisor of Cofepris, the
federal health
protection commission,
told Tierramérica.
This agency, entrusted
with monitoring the
safety of medications,
is in an "intense
process of readaptation"
that aims to determine
which medical products
are being sold online,
said Hernández.
In addition, Cofepris
will propose a new
general law on health to
replace the law
currently on the books,
drafted in 1984 and
since then undergoing
regular reforms. "Globalisation
brought with it a new
focus on commercial
practices, which is why
there has to be
legislation with a
current viewpoint," he
said.
"Cofepris warns the
public that medicines
are not merchandise,
that it's not the same
as buying a pair of
shoes. They are inputs
for health, which
implies a risk, so that
this new form of sales
over the Internet needs
to be dealt with and
regulated," Hernández
said.
Thousands of web sites,
some operating inside
Mexico, offer mostly
pharmaceuticals to
enhance sexual
performance, fight
depression, lose weight
or lower cholesterol.
"Mexico right now has no
regulation for sales of
medicines over the
Internet, but the best
way is to raise consumer
awareness with broad
campaigns and set up
pages on the Internet
itself to inform people
about the risks of
buying" their
medications online, said
Héctor Bolaños,
president of the
Association of Free
Access Medications
Manufacturers (medicines
that do not require
prescriptions).
"We have seen
adulterated medicines or
which do not contain the
ingredients of the
original formula, and
others with lower
quantities (of the
active ingredient) or
toxic substances," he
told Tierramérica.
For Alejandro Calvillo,
president of the
consumer protection
group El Poder del
Consumidor, many
pharmaceutical companies
that operate in Mexico
sponsor the Internet
sales sites, although
they complain that some
send fake or adulterated
products, in the end
"for them it is part of
the business, it is a
way of positioning their
brands."
The WHO discourages
pharmaceutical
advertising, but in
Mexico medications are
openly advertised and,
further, "through ad
campaigns they even
create diseases in order
to sell more and more,"
Calvillo said in a
Tierramérica interview.
In this country of 104
million people, with 70
percent of the
population
self-prescribing its
meds, there are 224
pharmaceutical
laboratories belonging
to 200 companies, 46 of
them corporations that
are majority
foreign-owned. Their
drugs are sold in
supermarkets and in
about 23,000 pharmacies.
Mexico is a good market
for the sector, because
of its demographic
characteristics. In
1970, the population
over age 65 represented
four percent of the
total. By 2025 it will
be 15 percent, and life
expectancy will reach
81.6 years for women and
76.8 years for men.
The drug companies know
that the higher the age
the greater demand for
health services and for
medications.
"I know that because of
embarrassment many
adults buy Viagra (a
drug for erectile
dysfunction) over the
Internet. It's difficult
to fight that, but they
have to be warned that
they could be in danger"
from the pills they buy
online, said Bolaños.
In 2004, The U.S. Drug
Enforcement
Administration found in
a worldwide
investigation that in
Mexico there were about
200 pharmacies that sold
their products online,
and most were located
along the U.S.-Mexican
border. From those sites
they sold adulterated
versions of Viagra and
some illegal narcotics.
According to the
U.S.-based Centre for
Medicine in the Public
Interest, in 2010 the
global value of sales of
falsified medications
will reach 75 billion
dollars, representing a
jump of more than 90
percent from 2005
levels.
"The Internet, where
sites appear one day and
disappear the next, is
an excellent place to
sell adulterated
medicines. The consumers
must be informed about
this because their
health is at stake, and
the authorities should
monitor it to the
maximum extent," said
Bolaños.
(*Diego Cevallos is an
IPS correspondent.
Originally published by
Latin American
newspapers that are part
of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is
a specialised news
service produced by IPS
with the backing of the
United Nations
Development Programme,
United Nations
Environment Programme
and the World Bank.)
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