Source: Jornal de Jundiaí - SP - HEALTH - 04/08/2009

Concerned about the gradual increase in drug piracy in Brazil, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and the Ministry of Justice are preparing a project so that medicines can be tracked. According to the president of the Ministry's National Council to Combat Piracy (CNCP), Luiz Paulo Barreto, the two agencies are working so that the boxes of medicines will have a bar code or a numerical series that allows the consumer to check pharmacy itself, through an optical reader, or at home, over the internet, the origin of the product.

“Today our main bet is on the traceability system. It is a system that will be implemented in the medicine box, which will allow the consumer, through the internet or by a reader, to check where that medicine was manufactured, who received it for distribution, what was the state where it was sold, which pharmacy was bought. That way, he will have the security of buying an original product ”, said Barreto.

According to him, a pilot project for this traceability model should be implemented later this year. Anvisa's chief institutional security advisor, Adilson Bezerra, also warned, in a debate at the agency's headquarters this Tuesday (04th) in Brasilia, about the range of health-related materials that have been falsified. According to him, artifacts for hospital use such as fake masks, gauze and surgical material have already been found. Even the diamond tips, used in scalpels for myopia surgeries, are being pirated and Anvisa has already discovered a prosthesis factory that used melted construction material in its manufacture.

According to Bezerra, consumers should be suspicious of very large differences in drug prices and always look for pharmacists in drugstores. "Generally, when the pharmacist is constantly present at the pharmacy, we do not find counterfeit or contraband drugs," he explained. “And the consumer must also be aware of very different prices. It is natural that medicines are cheaper in some places, but if it costs R $ 100 in most pharmacies and is being sold for R $ 30 in one, it is because there is something wrong ”, added Bezerra.

Drug piracy is a heinous crime. This year alone, 110 people involved in this activity have been arrested. The CNCP president also announced the launch of a new advertising campaign to combat piracy. With the Brasil Original brand, the campaign will have the slogan “Buy This Attitude”. The objective is to avoid the term piracy, which according to Barreto, has been associated with a romantic idea that the counterfeiting industry takes money from the rich to give to the poor.

“The term piracy has been linked to an idea by Robin Hood. A lot of people ask, "Why am I going to give Bill Gates money if I can give it to the street vendor?" These people forget that under Bill Gates there are thousands of jobs and companies, "he claimed.

BRAZIL AGENCY