Indonesian Demand Spurs Fake Drug Market

Demand for medication in Indonesia keeps the counterfeit drug trade going, according to an official.

Speaking in Jakarta, Erita Harun from the United States Department of Justices’ International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) Indonesia said that drug counterfeiters will resort to virtually anything in their quest to make money off of fake medication, according to the Jakarta Post.

She said that these criminals gather used drug packets and reuse them to sell counterfeit drugs.

Panji Pragiwaksono from the Community for Children with Cancer said that parent’s of cancer victims are duped into buying counterfeit drugs, thinking that they are merely a cheaper alternative.

“They were told that [the drugs] were the same, but some brands were more expensive than others and they believed this. When the drugs don’t work, they would go to a dukun [traditional healer], and when that failed, they would go to the [Community for Children With Cancer] foundation but by that time some of the children were already more seriously ill,” he told the news source.

Lucky S. Slamet from the Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency said that fake drugs make up about 2 to 3 percent of the illegal drugs seized by authorities during raids.

Lucky said that from a public health perspective, if a producer makes a false anti-diabetic drug from flour it will not heal, but potentially kill.

During a raid, the agency discovered an injectable counterfeit vaccine made from electrolytes stored inside a used syringe. “There were blood specks on the needle,” she said.

“Some people still want to use branded medicine that have been used for a long time, but they still look for cheap prices, so they buy [those drugs] in non-official places,” Health Ministry pharmacy and medical equipment chief Sri Indrawaty said.

Lucky pointed out that places that officially sell medical products, such as licensed pharmacists, were usually free from counterfeit drugs.