Nairobi — Kenyans have been listed among African consumers at highest risk of exposure to counterfeit drugs.

Findings of a recent study on the drugs market presented at the ongoing pan-African conference in South Africa indicates that many African governments lack the necessary mechanisms to curb the sale of counterfeit medicines.

"The responsibility of combating counterfeits should be the shared among relevant government agencies, manufacturers, distributors, health professionals, consumers and the general public," said World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Moses Chisale.

In Kenya, a National Quality Control Laboratories (NQCL) and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board survey found that nearly 30 per cent of the drugs in the market are counterfeit.

The study that was done two years ago found that some of the drugs were no more than chalk or water, marketed as pharmaceutical products.

The situation has since worsened with the Kenyan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry estimating that some $130 million worth of counterfeit pharmaceutical products are sold in the market annually. Experts say counterfeit drugs expose consumers to an escalation in health conditions.

In Africa, concern has been rising over the treatment of malaria following the discovery that patients are being treated with medicines that contain no active ingredients.

Last year, a Chinese firm, Holley-Cotec Pharmaceuticals, was forced to recall 20,000 doses of its Duo-cotexin malaria drugs after it discovered that an illegal ring was manufacturing a version with low active ingredients and selling it at one fifth of the market price.

The ongoing conference, which is sponsored by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, brings together customs officials, regulators, representatives of 10 sub-Saharan governments including Kenya, the WHO and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.

Participants are discussing the threats that counterfeit medicines and unregistered generics pose to patients and is expected to develop joint control measures.

The WHO defines a fake or counterfeit drug as a medicine that is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to its identity or source.

Pfizer says in the last three years, global authorities have seized more than 30 million fake Pfizer tablets from counterfeiters, and enough active pharmaceutical ingredients to manufacture over 50 million more.

"We are committed as a company to do all we can to keep fake medicines out of the marketplace ," said Karl Lintel, Pfizer's regional director for Africa.