UAE Cracks Down On Illegal Ink Use

Cartridge ink is being used, among other poisons, in fake pharmaceutical products that are flooding the Middle Eastern market, it has been claimed.

A conference between Arab leaders was begun yesterday to discuss the problem, hosted by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Health.

At the event's inauguration, it was claimed that cartridge ink is being used along with toxins such as arsenic, boric acid and lead, in addition to brick dust and floor wax.

Guy Lallemand, regional President of Africa and the Middle East for pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which helped to host the event, said that the danger to civilian life from fake medicine was very real.

He added: "While medicine counterfeiting remain a significant safety challenge for the healthcare community worldwide, the vigorous partnership between the public and private sector members represent a new movement that is gathering solid momentum here and around the world.

"It is clear that governments, international organizations, police, customs, cross-industry representative bodies, and the pharmaceutical industry now treat counterfeiting with the seriousness it deserves."

Representatives from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen are attending the three-day event.

The city of Dubai, which is hosting the meeting, reported that in the first five months of last year, it seized and destroyed 293 tonnes of counterfeit medicine within the emirate.

By Ramsey Dehani

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