China committed to reduce sales of counterfeit drugs on the internet

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently launched a campaign to reduce the number of web sites providing information on fake drugs and the illegal sales of these drugs on the internet.

This initiative comes after several ministries and government departments initiated in September 2009 a year-long campaign to eliminate the dissemination of false drug advertisements on the internet and the sale of fake drugs using the postal service and other channels.

With the new initiative, the Chinese Government is aiming for a “clean-up of existing legitimate website for drug information and transaction services, requiring all websites to complete their self-examination and correction”. Once this period is over, the SFDA will undertake inspection to ensure that the remaining sites still providing unofficial information or selling drugs online will be punished.

That is just another example of the efforts that Governments, health organisations and international bodies are putting into reducing counterfeit drugs, which has become an increasing problem with the advent of the internet.

Stakeholders engaged in the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical and medical device products should be aware of the risks present in all stages of the process. Good Distribution Practices in the distribution of pharmaceutical products help to ensure regulatory compliance and safety of the supply chain, and it is for that reason that Governments around the world are developing more stringent regulations to tackle the increasing problem of counterfeit drugs, putting the safety of the consumer at the top of their priorities.