According to a statistic revealed by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 100,000 deaths that occur in Africa every year results from fake and counterfeit drugs.
In her fight against fake and counterfeit drugs in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has tried different technologies over the years toward detecting fake and counterfeit drugs.
Here is the story so far on NAFDAC’S Mobile Authentification Service (MAS).
It was on the 2nd of February 2010 that NAFDAC introduced the mobile authentification service towards detecting and fighting against fake drugs. It was first launched by Biofem pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The NAFDAC mobile authentification service is a technology that allows consumers of drugs in Nigeria to verify whether the drugs they buy are authentic or not. This technology is provided by a company called Sproxil. The Director-General of NAFDAC Dr. Paul Orhii sums it up this way; “The scratch and text service (MAS) has put the power of detecting counterfeit drugs in the hands of over 100 million mobile phone users in the country”.
When you buy a drug from the pharmacist’s store and the drug is signed into the MAS technology, it comes with a 10 digits pin covered with a silver panel.
The consumer scratches the label to reveal the pin, and then sends it to the NAFDAC’S MAS shortcode 38353.
Once the pin has been sent, you will get a response within seconds indicating if the drug is genuine or fake. If it is genuine, the response comes as ‘OK’ but it is fake, it comes as ‘Fake, do not use’.
As such, consumers can be certain what they are buying is not something that will kill them.
As of early 2014, 40 drug manufacturing firms in Nigeria were reported by NAFDAC to have signed on to use this service, and that the figure is increasing. Some of the drugs currently having this provision in Nigeria are Glucophage, Lonart, and Ampiclox e.t.c.
To some extent, YES. It first started with Biofem Pharmaceutical Ltd, with other companies reluctant to try this. But just after four years, 40 had signed into this service, and the number keeps increasing. Also, the significant decrease in the number of casualties from fake and counterfeit drugs usage is a testament to the success.
Yes, there are some question marks. One thing is that not all drugs in Nigeria currently use this service. The question is ‘What do we do about those? Another question that has been asked about this service is that ‘What about the illiterate and those in rural areas without mobile phones? How do they benefit? And yet another question will be “How extensive is the knowledge about this?”
NAFDAC’S Mobile Authentification Service (MAS) is one of the numerous areas health sectors and agencies are using bulk SMS for the betterment of the masses' well-being. The MAS shortcode also shows how effective the use of shortcodes can be in the use of bulk SMS for the call to action.
Here is all you need to know about the NADAC MAS shortcode 38353.
This is just one use of bulk SMS service with wonderful results. The uses are endless. Everyone needs it. Register a bulk SMS account today if you don’t have one yet. Get free bulk SMS units at the point of registration.
Do you agree that bulk SMS is becoming a game-changer in NAFDAC’S age-long fight against fake and counterfeit drugs? Share your opinion with us using the comment box below.
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