[e-drug] Misuse of WHO logo in advertising

["Vijay Thawani" <vijaythawani@rediffmail.com>]

E-DRUG: Misuse of WHO logo in advertising
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Medicine promotion is known to be responsible for irrational use of medicines. The worst scenario one can dream of is where the WHO name or logo is misused in medicine promotion.

During a market survey for finding use of WHO name and logo on the ORS brands in India, all was not found to be well and this led to our first publication (Are ORS brands in India using the name of WHO judiciously? Indian Journal of Pharmacology 2006; 38:439-41 www.IJP-online.com). 

We were shocked to find that in ORS products in India, 10 different claims have been made in the name of WHO. We also got hold of a poster jointly brought out by nine ORS products manufactured in India, with WHO name in the poster, declaring that a child remained backward because his parents did not have the right knowledge to treat loose motions. Yet another company has advertised its combo product of ORS with symbiotic and uses WHO logo in its promotion.
 
Having tasted success in ORS brands, we decided to guard the integrity of guardian in this respect. We searched the database on medicine promotion (www.drugpromo.info) but did not find anything on this subject.This further strengthened our resolve to dig our heels.

We started hunting for medicine packaging and promotional material containing WHO name or logo. What we found started with a table-top pen stand with claims about an anti-rabies vaccine being WHO recommended. Within a year we have more than 40 instances in our kitty. These include three different branded anti-rabies vaccines, all claiming to be recommended by WHO, another vaccine claiming to be the only WHO approved pentavalent combination and an artemisinin combination therapy for malaria claiming to be WHO recommended. 

We have advertisements of six different companies in medical journals claiming to be WHO GMP certified, one using WHO logo, another claiming that it has more than 100 WHO certified products. One company has made the announcement that it is setting up ?state of art WHO GMP compliant formulation plant?. Another company has used punch lines like ?nearly half of India?s population will suffer from heart ailments? and ?India will have 100 million heart patients? crediting WHO for these statements.    

We found that pharmaceutical companies were not the only black sheep using the WHO name and logo. Others also made merry by misleading the consumers with promotional overkill. A mosquito repellant liquid had WHO logo as well as ?WHO recommended? written on its packaging.

While most of the companies using WHO name and logo are of Indian origin, the indulgers include giant transnational companies from developed economies. On enquiring from personal contacts in the countries of the origin of these companies it was collected that they do not do such medicine promotion there. Hence it is obvious that they are also washing their hands while the water of Ganges continues to flow freely in India.  

Based on the material collected, we have made a PPP which is being used in training for raising the awareness about medicine promotion and need for vigilance. The effort is to motivate the astute, alert and observant to participate in continuous surveillance of medicine promotion and convince that reporting is our moral obligation. We share our success in monitoring medicine promotion and are spreading the message to watch for use of WHO name and logo. To boost the contributors we have started rewarding them with a certificate and memento. We are belling the cats and are aware that WHO is making the bells sound loud! Ours is a voluntary effort and we have been noticed. 

The guardian can rest with assurance that it is being guarded by us in respect of medicine promotion in India. Since no one has reported such work before, we will make sure that our work is published fast. 

Good luck to WHA.You do so much for the world. This is our token salute.

Vijay

Dr Vijay Thawani,
14-A, Jeevan Jyoti, Clarke Town,
Nagpur-440 004, India.
Net group: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/netrum
Blog: http://vijaythawani.blogspot.com
Land line:(Res)+91-712-2522977
Cell: +91-9970195474
"Vijay Thawani" <vijaythawani@rediffmail.com>