Counterfeit Drugs Effect on Performance of Community Pharmacies

The proliferation of Counterfeits in the global health sector is a phenomenon that is of current scholarly and government policy debate. This is a menace that continues to challenge the global health sector.In Kenya, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers(2018) estimated that the counterfeit penetration ranges up to 40 percent for some items costing a lot of revenue loss to the economy.In 2018 Counterfeits cost businesses 50billion shillings($650million) and government 38billion shillings ($500million) in taxes( Kalekye&Kariuki.,2020).Drugs t easily counterfeited in Kenya include fast-moving and well-known brands, those available over the counter(OTC), supplies to government institutions and products for export. Nairobi City County is the bedrock manufacturing and at the same time supplier of counterfeit drugs. Counterfeit drugs affect the legitimate business due to lost sales, lower profits and lost brand trust and value. In Nairobi, an estimated 30%of drugs sold are fake or counterfeits accounting for an annual loss of more than 10billion shillings. Declining performance of Independent community pharmacies has largely been attributed to the influx of counterfeit drugs.