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By PETER KORUGL
A LEADING surgeon yesterday warned that counterfeit medical drugs were being sold alongside medicines stolen from the public health system openly at markets throughout the country.
Dr Polapoi Chalou said health centres and aid posts were not supplied with medical drugs because the medicines were going into the wrong hands, often stolen and sold, causing serious shortage of drugs.
Dr Chalou, who is the acting chief executive officer of the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, said people who opt for the cheap medicines that were sold at the markets, should be aware of the risk they were taking.
“There are a lot of counterfeit medicines that are coming into the country and getting out on the streets at cheap prices along with the certified drugs that go missing from the Health Department,” he said.
He warned that the use of counterfeit drugs could lead to illnesses, and diseases developing resistance to conventional drugs.
“These drugs are not certified and are dangerous. You could also kill yourself if you do not take the right dosage. The public must be very careful with what they are buying.”
Amoxicillin, disprin, asprin, panadol and altemeter are sold by vendors at markets and on the streets in Lae. While you can buy pain killers like disprin, asprin and panadol over the shop counters, amoxicillin and altimeter are prescription drugs that must be administered with the help of a doctor or qualified nurse.
The warning by Dr Chalou comes after the area medical store in Lae was broken into over the weekend and a large quantity of drugs, mainly anti- malarial tablets, stolen and reportedly sold on the streets in the city at cheap prices.
Meanwhile, a senior Government official supported the concern by Dr Chalou.
The official said the counterfeit medicines that are smuggled in are dangerous because their drug content is not known.
“People who import them illegally and sell them cheaply through third parties on the streets are preying on the ignorance of our people,” the official said.
He said anyone buying a prescription drug on the streets or in shops was exposing himself to a lot of risk.
 
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