Ghana loses $200 million annually through the importation of counterfeit products. The loss to the state is as a result of smuggling of counterfeit products into the country.

Manufacturers of the original products also suffer heavy losses because counterfeit products are preferred over the originals due to their low prices.

According to the Deputy Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Board, in charge of Drugs, Reverend J. Y. Martey, the counterfeit products ranged from building materials, vehicle spare parts, pharmaceuticals, beverages to other consumable items that adversely affect the viability of legitimate local production.

He said a study by the European Union (EU) revealed that the trade in counterfeit products showed an increase of more than 90 per cent from 2005.

On fake medicines, Rev. Martey said another institution, the US-based Centre for Medicines in Public Interest, had predicted that the amount of such drugs alone would reach $75 billion globally by 2010.

He further explained that the human cost was the most critical especially in the area of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

According to him, the report also observed that many countries in Africa, parts of Asia and Latin America had more than 30 per cent of counterfeit medicines on sale and further revealed instances where thousands of children and adults died from the intake of counterfeit drugs.

To this end, he said, a new system that would give consumers first-hand information on the genuineness or otherwise of pharmaceutical products being developed in Ghana.

The system, known as mPedigree, which would link producers and distributors on the one hand, with consumers and regulators on the other hand, had been designed to eliminate the information blockage on which counterfeiters thrive.

Consequently, a stakeholders mechanism involving institutions like the FDB and its partners would ensure that the Pedigree remain the public service platform it was designed to be, free to consumers and convenient to manufacturers and other supply chain actors.

Throwing more light on the system, a strategist of the mPedigree platform, Mr Bright Simons, said the system was being fully developed right here in Ghana, and would, once comprehensively operational, be the world's first consumer protection system of its kind.

He said under the system, drug buyers and/or consumers would have the opportunity to check whether their purchases were genuine or not, for free, by using their mobile phones to send special, non-duplicable codes embossed on drugs and to receive in a few seconds a response confirming or denying the authenticity of the product concerned.

Mr Simons further explained that expiry dates and other alerts may also be communicated to consumers through the system, which began on a pilot basis in January 2008 and ended in April.

He said other collaborating agencies under the new system were the telecom operators in the country, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana, the FDB and other collaborators.

Mr Simons pointed out that other upgrades to the system may include electronic product registration across the sub-region and aimed at eliminating the current hurdles faced by manufacturers and distributors who sold across borders.

He said discussions were ongoing with stakeholders for a nationwide implementation of the system.

As part of efforts to curb counterfeiting in the country, the first National Dialogue on Counterfeit Products ended in Accra on July 23, 2008 with participants poised to deliver on the commitments made in the final communiqué.

The participants, namely, the FDB, the EU BizClim Facility, and the Institute of Packaging (the last two acting through the Coalition Against Counterfeiting & Illicit Trade) identified four major areas in which significant improvement would lead to significant results in the fight against counterfeiting in Ghana.

Story by Mabel Aku Baneseh Source: Daily Graphic - Daily Graphic