Hakob Topchyan: The Armenian pharmaceutical market often falsifies expensive drugs
ArmInfo. The Armenian pharmaceutical market often falsifies expensive medications. This was stated at the press conference by the head of the Center for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Equipment of the Ministry of Health of Armenia Hakob Topchyan.
He also noted that medicines have been often forged in recent times to reduce pressure. According to Topchyan, there is also a problem in the technology of drug transportation. "Very often standards are not observed, and drugs are spoiled," he said. The expert also advised to look at the marking when buying medicines. "In Armenia, only those drugs that have undergone preliminary examination to establish compliance with necessary characteristics are labeled," Topchyan noted.
In turn, Sanofi's security director in the Eurasia region, Yuri Orlov, said that recently the company has a rich experience in cooperation with Armenia. "The problem with counterfeit medicines is quite common, and no country can firmly state that it has fully insured itself from getting such drugs on the market," Orlov said.
According to Orlov, Russia and Ukraine are the main producers of counterfeit medicines penetrating the Armenian market. Less often, however, there are counterfeit medicines from India, China and Pakistan. Sanofi's director of security in the Eurasia region also noted that sometimes some drugs that are sold in pharmacies are not designed for the region, so when buying drugs, you need to be especially careful.
Orlov also said that over the past 10 years, in Armenia, there was no evidence of falsification of medicines by Sanofi.