Road Town, Tortola - Senior officials from a number of Government agencies recently attended a one-day Seminar for Policymakers in Combating Medicine Counterfeiting.
The event was hosted by the office of the Chief of Drugs and Pharmaceutical Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Development. Resource persons included head of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (OECS/PPS) Mr. Francis Burnett.
Minister of Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn OBE, QC delivered opening remarks in which she underscored the danger posed by counterfeit medicines, as well as the challenge of combating the trade of counterfeit medicines in the Territory.
According to Honourable Penn it has already been proven that the Territory is not untouched by counterfeit medicines, as cases of counterfeits in the local medicine supply chain were confirmed in 2006 and 2007. “The only way to keep counterfeits out of the medicine supply chain is for a community to be vigilant and to safeguard the chain through an inter-sectoral approach,” the Minister said.
Honourable Penn said she is pleased that the OECS, through the OECS/PPS, has recognised that the sub-Region needs to be more vigilant in the protection of the medicine supply chain. “I am even more delighted about the integral part that we in the Virgin Islands are playing in this quest,” she said, in reference to plans for the Territory to be established as the OECS training centre in combating the trade of counterfeit medicines.
During the seminar, participants were shown part of a BBC video documentary that revealed the global nature of the trade in counterfeit medicines and its sometimes deadly impacts of developing countries around the world. There was also an interactive PowerPoint presentation that touched on the history, definition, and an overview of counterfeit medicines.
The one-day seminar was attended by the Director of Public Prosecutions, representatives from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, BVI Ports Authority, BVI Health Services Authority, the Ministry of Health and Social Development, and a visiting official from the Centers for Disease Control in the United States of America. It was held in the conference room at the Peebles Hospital on July 30.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development aspires to provide leadership that promotes health, social wellbeing, and a safe environment as positive resources for living and sustainable development of the Territory.
British Virgin Islands News