With around 250 companies producing medicines both for local use and for export to 83 countries, plus a turnover estimated at US$ 1 billion, the pharmaceutical industry is a Bangladesh success story. But its reputation has been tarnished in recent years by allegations that some companies have been risking public health by producing sub-standard medicines or pirated versions of original products. The nation was shocked in 2009 when 25 children died after taking counterfeit cough syrup. The incident prompted authorities to issue lower-grade manufacturers with a stark ultimatum: improve your quality or lose your license. Earlier this month, the Directorate General of Drug Administration showed that the ultimatum was serious by issuing warnings to 62 companies that the quality of their products was not good enough. It also placed temporary bans on 10 companies for failing to adhere to World Health Organization standards. “The government must be strict, in order to safeguard and sustain the worldwide goodwill towards our products,” said the Administration’s assistant director, Ruhul Amin. “We cannot take chances with our reputation.” Indo-Bangla Pharmaceuticals Ltd was one of the companies that received a ban. A manager at the company freely admits that “we had some faults which we’ve tried to identify and solve as soon as possible. Now we hope to settle the issue with the authorities and go back to production soon.” Despite the government’s firm measures, there is still an abundance of counterfeit medicine within the country. It is especially prevalent in rural areas, where registered doctors are not widely available, so poor and illiterate people tend to self-prescribe their medication. “After taking something for a headache, I started feeling stomach pain and it seriously affected my bowel movements. I went to a doctor and was told I’d taken sub-standard medicine,” said one man who ended up in hospital. Dr Firoz Ahmed from Dhaka Medical College Hospital has warned that these fake medicines can be fatal. “They have various side effects including vomiting, swelling of the limbs and irregular bowel movements,” he said. “They can even lead to kidney or heart failure.” But Shafiqul Islam, an officer for the state-run Drug Testing Laboratory, has pointed out that errant producers are not the only ones to blame. “Out of a total of 90,000 retail pharmacies in the country, a significant number have tin roofs,” he said. “So they often don’t maintain the constant temperature that is needed to preserve medicine, which means the standard degrades.” Related reports Catholic nurses battle to stop deadly virusBangladesh PM thanks nation for UN award