Developed countries in the West export a large quantity of medicine to developing and third world countries today. It is estimated that more than $4 billion worth of modern medicines are imported annually by the latter. In these countries, there is not only a shortage of medicines, but also a scarcity of doctors and pharmacists. Now that western medicines are easily available in developing countries, an unexpected problem arises. These medicines can frequently be obtained by anyone without prescription from the doctors. There are drug stores selling these medicines at street corners in the cities or villages. There is generally a lack of hospitals and clinics. The ratio of doctors and pharmacists to the population in developing countries can be as low as 1 to 100 000. One can easily imagine the scenario in these developing countries. When someone falls sick, he or she is likely to go to the drug store or any medicine shop for help. These drug dealers take on the role of doctors or pharmacists by prescribing medicine without examining the sick carefully. What they prescribe is solely based on the strength of the instructions found on the labels of medicine bottles and packets.
Most countries in the West have strict regulations over the sale of medicines. However, most developing nations have no such regulations. They also do not have adequate agencies to monitor adverse drug reactions. Consequently, there is no record of how many patients have been affected or endangered by the indiscriminate supply of unsuitable drugs. While many unsafe drugs have been banned or restricted in the West, they are freely marketed in developing countries. As such, the exporters of these medicines should also be held responsible for knowingly selling unsafe drugs or drugs known to have negative effects.
