The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 644
“Phnom Penh: Expert officials of the Ministry of Health said that fake medicines and illicit health services are a complex problem for a developing country like Cambodia.
“A secretary of state of the Ministry of Health and deputy director of the inter-ministry committee for combating fake medicines and illicit heath services, Dr. Heng Taikry, said during a meeting of this committee at the Ministry of Health on 22 December 2009, ‘At present, fake medicines and illicit health services are a complicated challenge for Cambodia.’
“Dr. Heng Taikry added that every year much money and many human lives are lost due to fake medicines and illicit health services. There are some factors leading to this problem, such us limited knowledge, poor livelihood conditions, and lack of participations of citizens [to check this problem], especially by those who live in remote areas.
“Official publications about the consequences of fake medicines and illicit health services are not spread broadly and on time, and there is a lack of close cooperation between relevant institutions, including the medicine and food control authorities in the areas, and other non-government organizations that are development partners. Mr. Heng Taikry went on to say, ‘Because law enforcement is not strict and penalties against offenders are too light, some wicked people take the opportunity to act improperly.’
“The head of the Department of Medicines, Mr. Tea Kimchhay, said, ‘There are 1,081 unlicensed branch pharmacies, and other houses selling medicines, and there are [153] export and import companies and [8] drug producing enterprises at the 24 cities and provinces of the Kingdom of Cambodia by November 2009.’
“He added that previously, officials of the secretariat of the inter-ministry committee went to some companies and many centers for cosmetic surgery to stop advertisements for cosmetic beautification through surgery or through the injection of drugs.
“He continued to say that officials of the secretariat went to strengthen law enforcement at places selling traditional medicines by instructing them about advertisement issues, and about requests for a license to operate a business selling traditional medicines; a house selling traditional medicines called Deum Tnot, owned by Mr. Chao Chanchetha, was closed for advertising beyond the truth.
“According to a report of the Department of Medicines, Food, Medical Materials and Cosmetic Products, there are temporary houses selling medicines, permitted by the provincial authorities for civil servants who are nurses and midwives. There are unlicensed places selling medicines, including 566 unlicensed pharmacies, 652 A and B branch pharmacies, and 274 temporary houses selling medicines at the provinces. There are 1,081 unlicensed houses selling medicines where 215 are Type A, 602 are Type B, and 264 are Type C [criteria not given here]. There are 153 export and import companies and 8 drug producing enterprises.” Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #368, 23.12.2009
This article was first published by The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 644 - Wednesday, 23.12.2009
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Norbert Klein is the Editor of The Mirror – The Mirror is a daily comprehensive summary and translation of the major Khmer language press - More about The Mirror