Fake drugs are a major issue in Nigeria with thousands losing their lives ever year to fake and adulterated drug in the country. Wouldn’t it just be nice to have an easy way of making sure the drug you are buying is original? Well NAFDAC now has a Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) that will enable you check whether a drug is original or fake with your mobile phone.
In partnership with GSM operators and pharmaceutical companies, NAFDAC now offers an anti-counterfeiting solution for drugs to protect consumers from the menace of fake and adulterated drugs. The technology for the anti-counterfeiting solution is provided by Sproxil a company focused on brand protection for emerging markets.
The Mobile Authentication Service, MAS is a good step forward in the battle against fake and adulterated drugs in Nigeria. A number of pharmaceutical companies have keyed into MAS, making it easy to check whether some of their best selling drugs are fake or original. So next time you are buying a drug check whether the drug is MAS-enabled. If it is use your mobile phone to check whether it is a fake or original drug.
Note that not all drugs are MAS-enabled. However, we think it is a good idea for NAFDAC to provide a list of all drugs that are MAS-enabled to make it easy for consumers to know which drugs they can do mobile authentication for.
Now we can confirm that Lonart a popular ACT anti-malarial drug from GreenLife pharmaceutical is MAS enabled. Also Ampiclox, a popular, ampicillin combination from GlaxoSmithKline is also MAS enabled. Do you know of more drugs that are enabled for mobile authentication service, share as a comment.
How to Check Fake Drugs with MAS
The Mobile Authentication Service from NAFDAC enables consumers in Nigeria confirm whether the drug they are about to buy is genuine using a mobile phone. The consumer simply sends an SMS to 38353 to confirm the genuineness of the drug. Every MAS enabled drug comes with a unique 10-digit number covered by a panel.
All the consumer needs to do is to scratch off the panel to reveal the 10-digit number. Then the consumer should text the 10-digit number to 38353 and in a few seconds they will receive an SMS on their mobile phone informing them whether the drug is original or fake.
Ampiclox and Lonart can be confirmed in this way.
Do you know of more drugs that can be authenticated using the Mobile Authentication Service? Share it as a comment.
