| Abstract: | Trading of fake medicines has become a problem on a global scale. Fake medicines have incorporated into the legal supply chains (pharmacies, online pharmacies, chemists'). There are many reasons which led to this situation, the main one being profit. No medicines are cheap, some are extremely expensive, so the practice of buying cheap medicines online has become popular among The sale of counterfeit medicines is a phenomenon of global proportions. Counterfeit medicines are sold overseas by precisely producing copies of labels and packaging and not only spreading in developing countries, but penetrating richer markets in Europe and the USA (Sonc, 2012). European legislation limits the sale of counterfeit medicines online and seeks to increase the traceability of counterfeits through the participation of competent institutions, customs and law enforcement agencies (Stepančič, 2018). Online shopping is simple, cheaper, or for personal reasons hidden from people, making buyers risk of buying the counterfeit medicine.
In order to prevent the entry of counterfeit medicines into the legal supply chain, on 6 October 2016, the Institute for the Verification of Authenticity of Medicines (ZAPAZ) was established. With the help of articles in pharmaceutical journals and on the internet, as well as surveys carried out in Slovenian pharmacies, we studied the knowledge of pharmacists about the dangers and the entry of counterfeit medicines into the legal supply chain and their awareness of customers, and on the basis of data in the articles and answers of pharmacists the survey found that raising awareness about counterfeit medicines and medical devices in Slovenian pharmacies is improving. On the one hand, education of pharmacists contributes to this, and on the other hand, informing customers about them. |
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