Source: Folha de S. Paulo, 16/01/2009

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law establishing a system for traceability of medicines. According to the standard, proposed by Congresswoman Vanessa Grazziotin (PC do B-AM), each package will have its own “RG” type.

The technology to be used has not yet been defined, but the system will work so that each product has an identification, similar to a bar code, associated with a list of information.

Each package will be numbered. By making it go through the electronic system to be adopted in pharmacies, the consumer, in a year, will be able to know information such as the name of the manufacturer and the number of the lot and the product that he bought, explains Dirceu Barbano, director of Anvisa (Agência National Health Surveillance).

According to him, the main objectives of the measure are to combat counterfeiting and theft of medicines. The patient, the pharmacy and the health authority will have access to the data. The way they will be made available will be regulated.

In 2012, the system will be able to store information such as the name of the patient and the doctor who prescribed the product. Barbano guarantees that the information will be reserved. “Today there is a need for secrecy. It doesn't change. ”

Errors

According to the vice president of the Federal Council of Pharmacy, Amilson Álvares, the measure will bring more security to consumers, as it will be possible to track drugs that are inappropriate for consumption. "In the case of manufacturing errors, blocking or interdiction of batches of drugs, it will be possible to immediately detect where the sale is taking place," he said.

The screening should also prevent theft of cargoes of medicines. "If a pharmacy is selling diverted medicine, there will be conditions for the government to discover this quickly," he said.

The text sanctioned by Lula says that the rules also apply to dental and veterinary medicines.

According to Barbano, the system is already adopted in the United States and in all countries of the European Union. He also says that the pharmaceutical industry will have more gains than losses with the system, since there will be a reduction in counterfeiting.

Folha was unable to locate a Febrafarma (Brazilian Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry) leader to comment on the law.