Counterfeit Medicines

This advertisement, published in India, emphasizes the need of buying genuine medicines.

Definition of counterfeit medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO):

"А counterfeit medicine is one which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products and counterfeit products may include products with the correct ingredients or with the wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient active ingredients or with fake packaging."

 

A generic drug (generic drugs, short: generics) is a drug which is produced and distributed without patent protection. The generic drug may still have a patent on the formulation but not on the active ingredient.

 

For more information on generics, Please visit:

http://www.egagenerics.com/FAQ-generics.htm

http://www.fda.gov/cder/ogd

http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/generics_q&a.htm

 

Counterfeiting occurs worldwide and are said to be more prevalent in some developing countries with weak regulatory regimes. It is sometimes estimated that upwards of 10% of drugs worldwide are counterfeit, and in some countries more than 50% of the drug supply is made up of counterfeit drugs.

 

Counterfeiting is difficult to detect, investigate, and quantify. Following links are available on http://www.fda.gov

http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/counterfeit_text.htm to be more aware of ways to identify the risk of counterfeit medicine and to minimize the chance of receiving fake products, in United States.

http://www.fda.gov

http://www.fda.gov

http://www.fda.gov

 

• “Counterfeit Medicines - Filled With Empty Promises; You can avoid counterfeit medicine by purchasing only from U.S. state-licensed pharmacies.”  
• "Reporting Unlawful Sales of Medical Products on the Internet."    
• "Radiofrequency Identification Technology: Protecting the Drug Supply."  
• “Protecting consumers from counterfeit drugs.” 

 

For more information about counterfeit medicines, please visit the FDA page, “Combating Counterfeit Drugs” at:www.fda.gov/counterfeit.

      If you buy medicines over the Internet:

• Check to see if a pharmacy is licensed, is in good standing, and is located in your own country. This will also help to prevent your sensitive information to get stolen away.
• Examine closely for original packaging. Talk to your pharmacist, if you find any difference in colour, texture, taste and shape of your medicine.
• You should also be wary of sellers who advertise very aggressively or who do not require a doctor's prescription for prescription medicines.
• If you are in United States, check to see if an Internet pharmacy site has the VIPPS Seal (More about, VIPPS, please  go to www.vipps.info. ), the seal of the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites Accreditation Program. This program was established by the NABP to help protect you and guide you through Internet pharmacy shopping. Legitimate pharmacies that carry the VIPPS Seal are listed at http://www.nabp.net/vipps/consumer/listall.asp.

   

In UK, a large number of purchases of medicines and medical devices are made over the Internet.  The manufacturers of these products are unlikely to conform to European standards of safety and effectiveness. Moreover, it is also difficult to trace the source of these products. And, people being cheated with counterfeit or substandard products. One of the problems is that there may be no legal or judicial recourse in the event of problem. The MHRA E&I Group is responsible for the UK Anti-counterfeiting Strategy which was launched in November 2007. You can report a counterfeit medicine or device at counterfeit@mhra.gsi.gov.uk  by e-mail.

According to WHO’s definition, drugs/ medicines are substandard- if they are products whose composition and ingredients do not meet the correct scientific specifications and which are consequently ineffective and often dangerous to the patient. Substandard products may occur as a result of negligence, human error, insufficient human and financial resources or counterfeiting.

For related information, go to:

http://www.who.int/

 

 

 

 

Solar energy

Solar energy or solar power refers to the use of solar radiation for practical purpose. Solar energy is also known as green energy as it is environmentally friendly and non-polluting which provides a remedy to global warming and certain forms of pollution. Solar energy can be converted into other forms of energy, such as heat (or thermal energy) and electricity.

Advantages:

Solar energy is a renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) resource. Solar energy is non-polluting and does not contribute to global warming. Solar cells are used to change sunlight directly into electricity. Solar cells are totally silent. Solar cells require very little maintenance and will last for decades. Although solar panels may be expensive to buy but can save money in the long run as the energy from the sun is practically free. Solar energy does not require any fuel and therefore not subjected to the ever-increasing price of fuel. Solar powered lights and other solar powered products are also very easy to install. In some countries, financial incentives are available from the governments. In some countries, there are schemes for creating carbon credits for users of solar power which are also applicable to industries. Carbon credits are an element used to aid in regulation of the amount of gases that are being released into the air and they may be traded.

Disadvantages:

Solar cells/panels, etc can be very expensive. Solar panels require quite a large area for installation. Moreover, sunlight depends on location, time of day, time of year, and weather conditions. Solar energy cannot be created at night.

Usages:

Solar geysers are useful for hotels, hostels, hospitals, guest houses, canteens, residences, swimming pools, etc., as they provide a cheap and alternate way for hot water. They are also used for making tea/coffee, cooking, cleaning utensils and for bathing purposes.

Solar energy can be converted to thermal (or heat) energy and used to heat spaces like inside greenhouses, homes, and other buildings.

In rural regions where power supply is irregular and scarce, solar lantern, with simple mechanism, is very useful. Even in the urban areas, solar lantern is a good alternative during power cuts. Solar energy is also used as solar home lighting systems and solar street lighting systems. These solar street lighting systems are useful particularly in the dark rural areas and thus doing away with the high cost and hassles of laying electrical wires. LED installations at places like resorts, educational institute campuses, etc can save power bills with lower illumination levels. 220 V electricity driven LED streetlights are also becoming fast popular because of their much lower power consumption and higher durability as compared to conventional sodium and halogen streetlights.

Solar dryers are used for food processing and fish packaging industry. As opposed to natural sun drying method, the modern sun dryers ensure uniform drying, no direct radiation, avoid food contaminations and discolouration and retain original taste and colour of fruits, vegetables, seafood, prawns, etc. It gives better preservation for long term storage which is useful for exports. Production level is increased as solar dryers increase moisture removal rate, thus speeding up the drying process and thus reduce drying time. Also, it has negligible maintenance costs, uses free and clean energy and gives quick returns within 3 years. For high production gas fired dryers are used in place of solar dryers as solar dryers require a lot of space. They are also cost effective.

Solar energy is used in dairy industry, process industry, solar refrigerator, solar RO plant, solar cooker, solar vehicle, distill water units, solar power plants, etc. In fact, there is a long list of usages. Common examples are power watches, calculators, Traffic Signals, satellites etc.

Some useful websites in India:

www.pegasus-semiconductor.com

www.unisolsolar.com

www.pegasus-semiconductor.com

www.nrgtechnologists.com

www.sunenergysystems.net

http://www.warmstream.co.in/

[Update 1: 03.02.11]

The above advertisement is published by Government of India, Ministry of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

About MNRE

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The broad aim of the Ministry is to develop and deploy new and renewable energy for supplementing the energy requirements of the country.

More details on www.mnre.gov.in