HERAT -- The smuggling of expired, shoddy and counterfeit Iranian medicines into Herat province has increased in recent months, degrading health services across Afghanistan.
More than half of the medicines found in Herat markets are either expired or of low quality and have been illegally brought in by smugglers, according to the pharmacists' union for Afghanistan's western region.
"A huge stock of the Iranian-made, low-quality medicines enters the country through illegal routes, and the other through border customs offices after [smugglers] pay bribes," said Abdul Karim Shirzad, the leader of the union.
"Smugglers are very actively importing dozens of types of low-quality medicine into the market on a daily basis," he said, adding that the medicines "enter the market without going through any quality assurance inspection".
![An employee stocks medicines August 2 at a pharmacy in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2022/08/31/36902-d_3-739_416.webp)
An employee stocks medicines August 2 at a pharmacy in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]
"Deficient medicines are imported through difficult terrain and are kept for months in deserts and on mountains at hot and cold temperatures while [the smugglers] ignore health guidelines," he added.
The majority of the low-quality and expired medicines in Afghanistan are imported from Iran, while others are brought from Pakistan, Shirzad said.
"The expired and low-quality medicines imported from Iran are not used in that country but rather are produced under complex and unfamiliar names and exported to Afghanistan," he added.
Degrading Afghanistan's pharmaceutical industry
Dozens of pharmaceutical companies operate legally in Herat, importing quality-controlled and lab-tested medicines from various countries and producing about 120 varieties of medication and various medical equipment.
Registered companies that have invested millions of dollars are facing stagnation due to the volume of medicines being smuggled from neighbouring countries, Mohammad Wais Sahak, CEO of Herat-Wardak Pharma, a pharmaceutical company in Herat city, said.
Most of the Iranian-made medicines are mislabelled as other goods and imported through customs, he said.
"Some customs employees are indeed co-operating and might be complicit with the smugglers," Sahak said, adding that corruption is a major concern in the customs sector.
"We pay customs duties on every imported item. However, the smugglers import poor-quality medicines without paying a penny of customs duties," he said. "The continuation of such a situation will jeopardise the operations of the pharmaceutical importing companies and put their investment at higher risk."
The import of counterfeit and low-quality medicines has negatively impacted business, Ahmad Farid Raufi, deputy director of the Sina Pharma pharmaceutical factory in Herat Industrial City, said.
"We produce 110 types of medicine, but similar [lower-quality] medicines enter the market every day," he said. "This has raised questions about the reliability of our products."
"Low-quality medicines are available at very cheap prices. Our high-quality medicines cannot compete with them on price," Raufi said, adding that the situation has undermined his company's operations.
Abdul Basir Waezi, director of the Hari Pharma pharmaceutical factory in Herat Industrial City, said his factory was forced to decrease production because of the unfair competition from inferior drugs.
As a result, he had to dismiss about 40% of his employees.
"We produce medications of high quality; however, the distribution of inferior medications has affected the sale of our products in the market," he said. "[Customers] prefer to buy cheap medicines because of economic problems."
"While we can produce 46 types of medicine per day, we limit our production to very few varieties because of the existence of second-rate imported drugs coupled with the ... lack of a market," he said.
Health risks
Deficient and counterfeit medicines from Iran also endanger patients' health, say doctors.
"Unfortunately, there are many low-quality medicines in Herat's pharmacies and doctors inevitably prescribe them for patients every day," said Mohammad Daud Yarmand, an internal medicine specialist in Herat city.
Low-quality or expired medications are dangerous and could lead to patients' death, Yarmand warned.
Those unsuitable medicines "do not treat but rather harm patients' overall health condition and ... could potentially cause other illnesses", he said.
Abdul Aziz Niazi, 54, a resident of Herat city, said he took his heatstroke-stricken son to the doctor four times but that his condition has not improved despite the medicine prescribed.
"My son has been sick for the past three weeks, and the doctor's treatment did not help at all. The doctor prescribed dozens of medications, but no matter how much he took, it was useless," he said.
"If this medicine was genuine and of high quality, why can it not cure a very simple illness?" he said, adding that he plans to take his son to Pakistan soon for treatment.
Unfortunately, in recent months, by implementing ineffective policies, the authorities have not only caused obstacles in importing vital medicines for the people, but by implementing the health reform plan, they put all the costs on the shoulders of bankrupt insurance companies, so that the insurance companies are unable to meet the requirements of pharmacies and the physicians. Perhaps implementing demagogic policies would be good to get votes and sit on the leadership seats, but the country's health and cure cannot be achieved by deception.
Reply8 Comment
We agree that preventing trafficking worldwide is challenging and that Afghanistan is not free from this filth. If we think about the other side of the matter, it will be that the quality is terrible even if our Afghan traders legally import something. Instead of benefiting you in terms of health, it harms you. So the thing is that the smuggler is a traitor; the national traders betray us more than he does. This problem exists in Afghanistan and, in fact, in all undeveloped countries. I hope the authorities will pay serious attention to this matter, catch the culprit and punish him.
Reply8 Comment
Conditions are being made to close the existing factories of various goods in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan suffers on a large scale. Iran is trying to paralyze the factories in neighboring Afghan provinces, lay off the workers, and take the investors away to their country. Pakistan, China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are also trying to transfer the capitals of provinces bordering them to their own countries. This way, Afghanistan will be broken forever and unable to rise throughout history. In addition to Herat's factories, I am also telling you about Kandahar. Cotton factory owners in Kandahar say that Pakistan is trying to destroy their industry. According to them, Pakistan is not paying them the $30 million for which they sold cotton. The owners of the cotton factories say that Pakistan is trying to close down the existing cotton factories in Kandahar. If anyone wants to find out whether this news is true or false, he should ask the cotton factory owners in Kandahar. Thank you
Reply8 Comment
With this, all of Herat's pharmaceutical factories will stand at a standstill. Any experts and ordinary employees working in them will become unemployed, experts will flee their homeland, and ordinary employees will be forced to beg. Economically, those investors who have invested in pharmaceutical factories in Herat will also be affected. And besides, this kind of low-quality medicine, instead of improving the patient's health, causes them to suffer from various incurable diseases. Not everyone does this, but the Iranians have a hand in it. Yesterday, a senior Iranian official said that if every foreign citizen brings $100,000 to the country and invests in it, they will provide him with all kinds of living conditions. From these words, it is evident that Afghan investors want to come to Iran and do business there.
Reply8 Comment
Mostly, Afghan businessmen are responsible for importing low-quality medicines. According to the information, Afghan traders who go to India, Pakistan, Iran, or any other country from which they import goods to Afghanistan themselves order what kind of goods such as medicine, food, mobile, computer, or other goods the company should produce for them. For example, the medicine that doctors give to patients in Pakistan works very well, but the same medicine with the same name, logo, and ingredients does not work if given to a patient in Afghanistan. The patient will get tired of taking medication, or his appetite will deteriorate, but whatever disease he has will not get better because the company has ordered the same low-quality medicine in the past. I am saying that as long as we do not make our conscience and thinking, we will see these problems in our lives. And our society will deal with it this way. The importation of low-quality medicines, whether smuggled or legally, is not only from Iran but also from Pakistan and India. Therefore, it is useful for us to become good human beings and organize our lives.
Reply8 Comment
Well, Iran's position is evident. Iran is the historical enemy of Afghans and Afghanistan, and we don't have any expectations from Iran. Iran has always been trying to keep Afghanistan weak and dependent on Iran. Shame on those unscrupulous businessmen who import these medicines to Afghanistan. These corrupt businessmen are playing with people's lives to get a few more Afghani. When our merchants treat us like this, what else should we expect from Iran and Pakistan? Afghans always blame foreign and neighboring countries though they are never ready to accept their responsibility. Unfortunately, neglecting duty has become a culture in our society, and people in every position and assignment are trying to put their burden on others, and this is not right. Afghans should try to make reforms in themselves by admitting their missteps and then gripe about others.
Reply8 Comment
Earlier, I read on the Salaam Times news website that Herat industrial park has faced problems due to the reason that, the Iranian government is cutting off electricity imported from Iran. This means that Iran not only exports feigned products to our country but also prevents the production of goods inside Afghanistan. Pakistan also employs similar hypocrisy in Jalalabad and other eastern provinces. Accursed Pakistan exports drugs and bogus expired items to Jalalabad and from there to Kabul. Pakistanis and Iranians are not the only ones to blame in such cases. In the meantime, those Afghan businessmen who are engaged in importing from Pakistan and Iran are also to be blamed. Why do they import expired and defective items to Afghanistan? Generally, when anything is produced inside Afghanistan, a high tariff should be imposed on importing the same thing from Pakistan and Iran to halt importing such items. With regards, Mustafa
ReplyI totally agree with your statement. I also wanted to cite this point. The problem is not merely with Iran and Pakistan. Afghan traders cause the main problem. It's not just medicines; Afghan traders always import low-quality items. Whenever they go to China, they try to order and import the lowest quality goods, duplicate of the original ones. Therefore, I think that in addition to raising the tariffs, the government should increase its overseeing of all imported goods and contain the savagery of these ruthless and disgraceful traders.
Reply8 Comment