Source: Jornal do Comércio - RS, 04/02/2009

It is in the third, in the best age or in the mature age, the denomination does not matter, that people start to face health problems. Physical decay begins its final cycle, leading us to decline. Despite this, through the centuries the dream of eternal youth has populated the fantasy of millions and millions of people. Scientists continue to seek to alleviate physical and mental decrepitude, but from the age of 60 onwards we are considered to be elderly, even though the advancement of medications, balanced diet and continuous use medications that control diabetes, hypertension and heart problems have raised the average of life beyond the age of 70, whether in Rio Grande do Sul or in other countries, where it is over 80, as in Japan. But being a vitally elderly person literally charges a high price, as medication is expensive. Retirees and pensioners commit a large part of their meager income to the purchase of medicines. Maintaining health is worth it. The problem is that in addition to clothing, branded sneakers, electronics and computer products, now the plague of counterfeits has arrived and is expanding precisely in the health maintenance sector, as international chains place equal medicines in Brazil, but with no therapeutic value. , to the real ones. As of this year 2009, the drugs sold in Brazil will leave the factory with a tracker that will allow you to monitor all their circulation until they reach the consumer. The measure is part of an agreement between the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government to combat drug piracy. The measure will be fully implemented in 2010, but already that year some trackers start to work experimentally.

As a result, gangs operating in the sector will be dismantled, in joint mega-operations by the Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) with the Federal and Highway Police. In 2007, piracy caused a loss of more than R $ 30 billion to the country in tax evasion and fraud, in addition to closing thousands of jobs and causing damage to patients, especially women and the elderly. In 2008, the Highway Police seized 444,8 fake drugs, almost 40% more than the 322 units seized in the past year. We are the eighth market for pirated medicines, consuming between 5% and 10% of world production, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Ministry of Justice announces that 30% of the marketed drugs are produced informally. Part is pirated and another part, even though it is a real remedy, is imported illegally for the purpose of evasion. The sad thing is that everything is counterfeit, from sexual stimulants to abortions, vaccines and black-stripe medicines that, instead of curing, cause health damage and can lead to death. The most pirated remedies in Brazil are those with the highest added value, with Viagra, Cialis and Pramil. The formulas copied by pirates are of doubtful effectiveness, if not null and sometimes dangerous, and can generate serious damages, such as definitive impotence. Banned drugs are being sold in Brazil and worldwide, such as Citotec, capable of causing permanent deformations and even leading to death. Even though it is a heinous, unspeakable crime, with a sentence of up to 12 years in prison, with aggravating circumstances in the event of death or consequences for patients, it is a flourishing trade, as all organized crime generally is, until it falls into the clutches of the law. Jail for counterfeiters. Until then, may God protect children and the elderly, the biggest victims.