TIPS FROM AN EXPERT
TEXT: MERVI LEINONEN
The medicines verification system roots out falsified medications
“You can be sure that your medication is safe” Even one falsified medical product is one too many, says Maija Gohlke-Kokkonen, the General Director of the Finnish Medicines Verification Organisation, FiMVO. An EU-wide medicines verification system is a way to fight against organised crime which is increasingly often involved even in the legal medicine distribution system.
Company Finnish Medicines Verification Organisation, FiMVO. The organisation is owned by Pharma Industry Finland, Orion Corporation, the Finnish Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the Suppliers of Parallel Imported Medicines in Finland, the Association of Finnish Pharmacies and the Association of Pharmaceutical Distributors.
In Europe, falsified medications appear in approximately one per cent of all medicine packages within the legal medicine distribution system every year. There have been such cases in Finland, as well. In developing countries, up to a third of the medications received from a pharmacy or health care centre is falsified. Falsified medications are a worldwide problem, which is why other markets, such as the USA and Russia, are also developing their own verification systems. “However, a medicines verification system can’t stop the falsified medication business operating outside the legal distribution chain. I truly hope and believe that this reform will wake people up and get them to avoid purchasing medications from sources other than pharmacies and legal online pharmacies. A falsified drug is a serious health hazard,” says Gohlke-Kokkonen.
Motto I’d rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven’t!
VERIFYING THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SYSTEM
Contact information www.laakevarmennus.fi
FiMVO is responsible for building and managing the medicines verification system in Finland. The medicines verification system consists of a central European database where medicine manufacturers enter the
Maija Gohlke-Kokkonen General Manager
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