Muhammad Dawood Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Director-General for the Executive Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministers of Health Prof. Tawfiq Ahmed Khoja has called for the launching of a unified Arab and Gulf strategy to counter the spread of counterfeit medicines. The aim is to curb counterfeit medicines especially with the increase in websites through which these fake medicines have spread. He said medicines sold online fail to meet recognized international standards and stressed the importance of these strategies in order to activate collective monitoring and supervision instead of individual efforts by GCC countries. Meanwhile, 500 specialists from 30 Arab and foreign countries are scheduled to discuss the latest developments in food and drugs in the Second Arab Conference for Food and Drugs in Sharm El-Sheikh under the patronage of Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Dr. Adel Adawi, Egyptian Minister of Health. Chairman of the conference, Prof. Khoja, said the conference is the biggest Arab gathering for food and drug monitoring and supervision officials, food and drug manufacturing and marketing companies and academics and researchers. He said the conference's deliberations include scientific sessions to highlight the latest developments in the field of food and drugs and applied research, apart from a roundtable discussion on conformity of Arab medicine prices and the role of medicine economy in this field. Participants will highlight successful Arab experiences in the setting up of food and drug authorities so other Arab countries can follow suit. The participants in the conference will strive to establish an Arab food and drug authority and will also discuss drug supervision and pharmacological inspection policies and the problems facing supervision of food. Prof. Khoja said the conference has 21sessions that will tackle the most important issues in the field of food and drugs. The conference will discuss 82 scientific papers presented by experts from 18 Arab and foreign countries.
