Editor's Note: Published on page A16 of the May 23, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WE read with interest Neal Cruz's column on the problem of counterfeit drugs ("Counterfeit medicines are not fake," PDI, 5/12/05 ) Counterfeit medicines are a serious threat to the health of the Philippine people, and we welcome the attention Cruz has drawn to this matter. However, he misled the readers when he wrote that the World Health Organization defines as "fakes" any medicine sold in a country but not manufactured there. This is not the case, and to say so seriously distorts our position. WHO has said that counterfeit medicine is often distributed across national boundaries, but that does not mean that we view all imported drugs as fakes.

The accusation that WHO sabotages the Philippine government's policy on importing cheap generic medicines springs from the misrepresentation of our position, and is groundless. For years, WHO has advocated the availability of good-quality, cheap generic drugs and has worked with member-countries on this issue.

For the record, WHO defines counterfeit medicine as being "deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source."

This can include mislabeling (including fudging the expiry date), or products with no active ingredients, a wrong active ingredient, or the correct ingredient in insufficient quantity. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products.  

-DR. BUDIONO SANTOSO, Regional Adviser in Pharmaceuticals, World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region