| Kippreport.com

Bar coding system in Abu Dhabi aims to wipe out counterfeits

July 2, 2010 9:46 by Rasha Reslan

A new system of bar coding pharmaceutical drugs in Abu Dhabi is aimed at thwarting the lucrative underground market for counterfeit medicines, The National reported Friday. The Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) will utilize the bar code tracking technology in order to trace the supply and distribution of legitimate pharmaceuticals, the report said.

Dr Mohammed Abuelkhair, the head of drug regulation at HAAD said the new bar coding system could be ready by the early part of 2011. The system will require that pharmaceutical distributors work coordinate with the health authority to obtain the proper bar coding. Each package of medicine will be .

The barcode is placed on every package of medicine,” he said. “All the medicine that comes into the country goes to the agent, and before it leaves the agent it will be bar coded with a special, unique, code, then it goes to the pharmacies.”

The global market for fake medicine is estimated at around ten percent of the legitimate market.

Tags: bar coding The national link, Counterfeit drugs