Taiwan’s Premier Stresses Determination to Fight Counterfeit Drugs

Focus Taiwan reported on statements from Taiwan’s Premier Wu Den-yih on April 15th regarding strengthening the crackdowns on counterfeit drugs and underground radio stations. Premier Wu stated that the recent actions were not meant to suppress freedom of speech or hurt the pharmaceutical industry, but to protect the public's health.

According to Focus Taiwan:

· Underground radio stations in Taiwan sometimes broadcast advertisements for fake or substandard medicine, and the premier issued a directive earlier this year asking authorities to report to him every week from April 1 on the progress of their crackdowns.
· From Jan. 1 to April 14, police discovered 65 cases involving the sale of unlicensed drugs and arrested eight suspects.
· Taiwan’s Department of Health (DOH) reported that from April 1 to April 13, local public health bureaus uncovered nine cases involving the possession of unlicensed medicine and handed out 13 fines. The bureaus also administered sanctions for 323 cases involving the illegal advertising of counterfeit medications and food products.
· Wu reiterated that it is the government's responsibility to eradicate the sale of unlicensed drugs and that every department should continue to work diligently toward that goal.

Secure Pharma Chain Blog continues to highlight medication counterfeiting as one of the most dangerous forms of this criminal activity and encourages all within the pharmaceutical supply chains to deploy a variety of solutions and technologies in their efforts to protect the healthcare of the consumer.

To learn more about anti-counterfeiting technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

To read about the Focus Taiwan story, visit: http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201004150019.