The Romanian Medicines Serialization Organization (OSMR) and the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices in Romania (ANMDMR) launched, on Tuesday, the national campaign "Falsified medicines can kill!", a broad information and awareness initiative, which aims to bring to the public's attention the major risks associated with the consumption of counterfeit medicines.
According to a press release, the campaign comes in a context marked by the increase in cases of distribution of counterfeit medicines, especially through online platforms. These products are dangerous because they can have unpredictable effects on health, from lack of efficacy to severe adverse reactions or even death.
In support of the initiative, OSMR has also launched the platform www.medicamentesigure.ro, a hub dedicated to correctly informing patients. The site offers practical guides, recommendations and useful tools for identifying safe sources of medicine acquisition, as well as warning signs that consumers should pay attention to, especially in the online environment, considered an important channel for the marketing of counterfeit products.
The official launch of the campaign took place during the 7th edition of the "Patient Safety through Drug Safety" conference, a landmark event for the pharmaceutical industry, which brought together representatives of national and European authorities, international organizations, health experts and members of civil society.
"The reality is that, ultimately, the fight against counterfeit medicines is won or lost by each patient when deciding where to buy a medicine. (...) Our sincere warning to all patients is that a medicine from an unauthorized source may be the last choice they make," said Laurentiu Mihai, OSMR general director, quoted in the press release.
Behind a counterfeit medicine there is no science, laboratory, doctor and, above all, no responsibility towards the patient's life, warned Răzvan Prisada, president of ANMDMR.
"There is only fraud. The role of ANMDMR is to ensure that patients in Romania benefit exclusively from authentic medicines, but the truth is that we cannot accomplish this mission alone. The online environment has transformed the trafficking of counterfeit medicines into an extremely difficult phenomenon to control, and therefore, we first and foremost need the support of every patient, who must understand the risks associated with the consumption of counterfeit medicines," said Răzvan Prisada.
According to OSMR President Dan Zaharescu, the campaign is not just about informing the public, but about shared responsibility.
Within the Romanian National Medicines Verification System (SNVM), which became operational in February 2019, an average of approximately 1.06 billion transactions were recorded annually, related to over 3.7 billion packages of medicines uploaded to the system, and the alert rate remains constant at 0.03%, remaining below the pan-European target level of 0.05%.
Currently, all pharmacies and wholesale distributors in Romania are registered in the system, namely over 9,900 pharmacies and over 370 distributors.
"The year 2025 also brought an important technical novelty: monitoring the availability of SNVM in real time, accessible to the public directly on the OSMR website. Last but not least, the organization continued its commitment to education, welcoming students who had the opportunity to discover OSMR's activity and the world of serialized medicines from the inside - an initiative through which the organization invests in the generation of professionals who will take over the baton in this field," the press release also reads.
Comentează