Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the identification rate of substandard and falsified medications and its association with knowledge among public.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in different geographic areas among a convenient sample of people aged 18 or older. A validated web-based electronic questionnaire was used for data collection tool. The questionnaire contained three sections assessing the following: (1) Sociodemographic data; (2) Knowledge regarding counterfeit medicines; and (3) Ability to identify counterfeit medicines, according to 12 questions rated on a five-point Likert scale. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between sociodemographic factors and counterfeit medication identification rate.Results: A total of 320 people participated in the study. Only 98 participants (30.6%, 95% CI 25.6–35.7%) identified the counterfeit medications. Ability to correctly identify counterfeit medications was significantly higher in participants who were older (p = 0.016), single (p = 0.001), Asian (p = 0.001), or American (p = 0.019), as well as those who indicated that they would check the certification of the medications (p = 0.015) and report counterfeit medications to the authorities (p < 0.0001).Conclusions: These results underscore the need for greater public awareness of the hazards associated with counterfeit medicines.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined counterfeit pharmaceutical products as those that are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source [1]
Ability to correctly identify counterfeit medications was significantly higher in participants who were older (p = 0.016), single (p = 0.001), Asian (p = 0.001), or American (p = 0.019), as well as those who indicated that they would check the certification of the medications (p = 0.015) and report counterfeit medications to the authorities (p < 0.0001)
These results underscore the need for greater public awareness of the hazards associated with counterfeit medicines
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined counterfeit pharmaceutical products as those that are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source [1]. On the other hand, falsified medical products are ones that deliberately or fraudulently misrepresent their identity and composition or source [2, 3]. WHO has determined that counterfeit products could comprise about 50% of the drug market worldwide; many of these products arise from developing countries [4]. One in 10 pharmaceutical products are substandard or even falsified in low- and middle-income countries. The predominance of counterfeit products is highest in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, comprising about 30–60% of all drugs in the market [2, 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. 35–75% of the fake or counterfeit products that arise globally are made in India [11, 12]
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