The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has sought cooperation from pharmaceutical companies and chemists to uproot production and circulation of fake medicines in the country.
DGDA Director General (DG) Major General Jahangir Hossain Mollick held separate meetings with leaders of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industries (BAPI) and Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Samity (BCDS) in this regard, on Monday and yesterday respectively.
At yesterday’s meeting, BCDS President Sadekur Rahman told the DGDA that more than 50 pharmaceutical companies in the country were involved in producing and selling illegal drugs.
Sources said that despite a series of crackdowns, sales of fake, adulterated, unregistered, falsely-branded and expired medical drugs have been on the rise across the country.
Between January 2013 and August 2014, DGDA had seized and destroyed fake medicines worth Tk12.5 crore.
At the same time, law enforcement agencies have also been actively participating in drives against illegal medicines.
On September 10, a mobile court along with members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) seized large quantities of illegal medicines after a raid on two factories and three warehouses in the capital’s Mitford and Keraniganj areas.
The owner of the factories and warehouses, Mohammad Russel, 30, was arrested and a case against him was lodged under the Special Powers Act. The accused had earlier served a two-year sentence for a similar offence and resumed his illegal business after his jail term ended.
In 2013, mobile court drives fined offenders with over Tk4.19 crore and jailed 163 people in 646 cases regarding illegal medicines.
In the first eight months of 2014, 368 cases were lodged where offenders were fined Tk56.23 lakh and 29 people were sent to jail.
A further 59 cases were lodged at drug court and magistrate court.
Currently, there are more than 250 registered pharmaceutical companies in the country.
