A verification system for monitoring drug authenticity in the supply chain.

Abstract

The main purpose of this research project was conducted in reference to understanding the big problem of counterfeit drugs in the supply chain. A thorough review on literature and other research techniques were used on how counterfeit drugs are being distributed in the market, how they are produced and who disturbs them giving us an understanding of the big problem. A study was to carried out in Kampala throughout the drug supply chain sampling out key players like joint medical stores and national medical stores as one the large-scale wholesalers, CIPLA quality chemicals and MTK chemicals as the two manufacturing companies and some three (3) small-scale wholesalers. A number of research techniques were used in the study such as questionnaires, and planned interviews were used on the selected groups. The collected data was then summarized and the study showed that 100% of the respondents that from manufacturing companies had have a manual system that tracks drug distribution to first line of distribution and the picture on the right showed that from both respondents the system they use is a manual system, secondly 100% that the manufacturers currently are using holograms and graphical images in protecting their brands from counterfeiters. And it was on these findings that we designed a supply chain management system to provide a better monitoring and authentication of the genuine drugs on the Ugandan market