The term “poor-quality medicines” is something of a catch-all. It includes
“sub-standards”, medicines that have had inadequate quality control or that
have degraded from improper storage or the passage of time. And it includes
falsified medicines – fakes – that claim to be what they are not. These may
not be made by the manufacturer whose name is on the package and they
may not contain the stated ingredients in the stated quantities. (1)
Poor-quality medicines might not work. They usually have none or only part
of the active ingredient they are supposed to contain. This would mean that
the illnesses of those people who consume them would be left to take their
course. Consuming them can even kill you because the contaminants in the
medicines can end up causing severe infections. (2)
Poor-quality medicines can be life-threatening even if you don’t take them.
Antimicrobial drugs (including antibiotics and antivirals) that have too little
active ingredient are generally accepted to help disease-causing bugs evolve
so that they develop resistance to treatment even with good-quality
antimicrobials. And then these bugs spread. (3)
The factors that speed up the development of antimicrobial resistance —
high rates of infections, the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials, poor
sanitation, poor-quality medicines — are more common in low- and middle-
income countries, which means that so is resistance. But microbes travel
easily across the world in foodstuffs being exported and in the bodies of
humans. And often, resistant microbes can transfer genetic material to each
other to become even more dangerous to humans. (4)The result: infections that were simple to cure are back with a vengeance.
Conditions like tuberculosis and HIV are getting harder to treat. In the future,
a routine surgery could become risky and cancer treatment more
challenging. There is a real danger of returning to a time where any one of us
could pick up an infection and find that medicines are unable to produce the
intended results. (5)
In 2010, Indians consumed the most antibiotics per person in the world.
Medicines, including antimicrobials, are easily available over the counter
despite rules that forbid this. A recent study found that a large number of
antibiotics were on sale without being approved either in India or in the
country of the manufacturer. On an international level, further complicating
the picture is the fact that different countries have different standards of
quality. (6)
Ensuring medicine quality is a global challenge. A pill might be manufactured
from ingredients sourced from multiple countries, shipped via several ports,
packaged and repackaged in various countries and ultimately sold via an
internet pharmacy. The number of points at which fakes or substandards
could enter the chain is staggering, so international coordination and
regulation is essential. (7)
- Srinath Perur
Glossary:
active ingredient - a chemical component in a medicine responsible for its
intended effects
antivirals - drugs that treat infections caused by viruses
microbes - microorganisms, especially the ones causing diseases
(480 words) Source (edited): 'Fake drugs: the global industry putting your life
at risk' - https://mosaicscience.com/story/fake-drugs-global-antibiotics-amr-
counterfeit-meds/
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given
below.
Posted by Divyansh Raj
2 months ago
