A researcher at the Pharmacology Department at the Mexican Polytechnic Institute Research Center, Gilberto Castañeda, alerted the various health sectors on the possibility that medications from China could be entering the country illegally. The representative of the National Administration of Medications in El Salvador (Dirección Nacional de Medicamentos or DNM), José Vicente Coto, affirmed that there is “no regulation of the entry of pharmaceuticals” to the country. He requested that quality control criteria be adopted to monitor the entry of clandestine products.

During a meeting with the health sectors, Castañeda emphasized that it is important that El Salvador comply with quality control criteria regulating the entry of medications to the country. Coto explained that there is evidence that these are “counterfeit, contraband, and substandard quality medications.” He also remarked that at least 800 false medications manufactured in the country to be sent abroad were detected in partnership with INTERPOL at Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport.

Seventy percent of medications consumed in the country come from Europe, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, India, and China, while the consumption of domestically produced medications represents just 30 percent of the market.