In the first quarter, 7.5 million packages of medicines were checked against counterfeiting – Health, beauty

In the first quarter of 2024, a little more than 7.5 million packages of medicines, whose authenticity and safety have been checked in the medicine verification system, have reached Latvian residents through pharmacies and medical institutions. This is 4% more than in the first quarter of 2023, according to the data collected by the Latvian Medicines Verification Organization (LZVO).

In Latvia, 1,203 users – pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, drug wholesalers and medical institutions – have connected to the verification system and checked the safety of medicines in the first quarter of 2024.

“The drug safety testing system has been successfully operating in Latvia for five years, and we are happy to say that during this time, only safe and authentic drugs have reached pharmacies and medical institutions. In general, counterfeit medicines have been discovered in Europe, but they have not entered Latvia, and the verification system reliably protects the health of our citizens from counterfeit medicines,” says Inese Erdmane, chairwoman of the board of the LZVO.

The safety of prescription drugs is checked in the legal chain of circulation of drugs, therefore LZVO calls on citizens to buy drugs only in official and reliable pharmacies and online pharmacies, in no case choosing to buy drugs on unknown websites or after advertisements on social networks.

The basic principle of operation of the verification system is the unique code on each package of prescription drugs, which is placed by the manufacturer and which is checked (verified) several times in online databases on the way to the consumer. At the end of the supply chain, when the drug is sold or used by the patient, the pharmacy or medical institution deletes the code from the system. This ensures that the same code cannot be used to inject counterfeit medicines into the legal supply chain.

Vthe basis for the creation of the certification system is the EU Counterfeit Medicines Directive (2011/62/EU) and the Delegated Regulation, which sets detailed rules on safety features on the packaging of medicinal products intended for humans (EU 2016/161). The system has been operating in 29 European countries since February 9, 2019. It tests all prescription drugs and one over-the-counter drug, omeprazole.

Latvian Medicines Verification Organization