IN the last two or three weeks, the consumer community were both surprised and rejoiced that the Food and Drugs Department had shown a sudden squirt of activity when they visited several pharmacies which had been selling substandard and fake pharmaceuticals and seized them.

This column had been constantly bringing to the attention of consumers not only to the wide distribution of fake and substandard pharmaceuticals but also other goods such as cosmetics, foods and haberdashery. These false and substandard goods are often toxic, that is, being poisonous at various levels and could seriously impair health.

In pre-Independence times, Guyana’s food and drug imports were almost wholly made from reputable Western companies which were subject to strong national standards. Guyanese, therefore, felt with much justification that goods imported from Western sources were superior to those produced by Third World countries. The advent of the Free Market has changed the scenario completely and goods from every part of the world are imported into the Guyana Market.

The recent commendable activity by the Food and Drugs Department netted three fake and substandard “medicines” – Chanca Piedra Phosmovite which was promoted as being able to successfully treat gall and kidney stones and clean the liver and urinary tract; Fungabort which claimed it was effective in the treatment of nail fungus; the third forgery being Phosferine, a well-known drug in the Guyana market a generation ago. Despite the forgery claimed that the name Phosferine was copyrighted and registered, the real drug which was indeed copyrighted and registered was spelt ‘Phospherine’ and not Phosferine. All three fakes claimed they were manufactured in Canada.

Canada is not known to be a forgery capital as some East Asian countries are but there are a few firms in that country which do produce fake and substandard goods. One such is a well-known food manufacturer whose products are imported into the Guyana market. That firm uses the trademarks and labels of well-known products which are no longer produced by the genuine producers who would have ceased using the brand or may even have gone out of business. It also clandestinely patents the name of products which are not as yet patented in Canada. It is likely that the three fake products seized by the Food and Drugs Department were indeed produced in Canada.

Consumers themselves must be on the lookout for the quality of the drugs or other goods they are buying and must read the labels carefully since the labels often indicate whether a product is genuine or not. An example of this was given above in the case of spelling. Colour of the label could also be an indication.

Country of origin, though a useful indicator of quality, is not always so as was shown in the case of Helms Pharmaceuticals of Hamburg, Germany some years ago. Helms was able to quickly win a good part of the market until consumers began to notice the Helms drugs quickly deteriorated. On research by the Bureau of Standards, it was found that Helms had their drugs made in extremely poor conditions in various Third World Countries and passed them as being German made. They were quickly removed from the Guyana market.

The Food and Drugs Department has not so far instituted any charges against any of the pharmacies selling the fake products but instead are turning their attention to finding the main distributor and uncovering how or when the goods were brought into the country. This strategy may be farsighted but the normal consumer feels that charges should have been instituted on the retailers since such would have been a deterrent to retailers buying or selling food or drugs of uncertain quality.

Importers, wholesalers and retailers should be alerted of the relevant Laws of Guyana relating to the quality of imports and their cooperation sought. This may require importers being reminded of quality and that low prices should not always be a determinant in purchasing import stocks.

In the final analysis, the control and elimination of imports of fakes, forgeries, substandard and health-impairing products is the shared responsibility of consumers, retailers (including pharmacists), importers, the various responsible government departments and above all strengthening the relative Laws.