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Insulin trouble for diabetic patients

Staff Correspondent
Insulin dependent diabetics patients are facing a health hazard, as 'a good number' of vials of insulin are smuggled into Bangladesh from some Middle Eastern countries without proper preservation.
Sources at the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB) said about 20 per cent of the insulin dependent patients are using smuggled insulin without being aware of the danger.
The smuggled products are available at drug stores in the city as well as in the district towns.
Sources said insulin should be preserved in a cool place or a container having a temperature of less than 20 degrees Celsius to retain
effectiveness.
"When insulin is legally imported it is stored in a cool flask," said an official of the DAB, which first detected the smuggled insulin in the market.
"The smuggled insulin is brought into the country through passengers' baggage and no preservation method is followed," the sources said.
"Such insulin used by the diabetics may not have any effect and could lead to serious complications," said the sources.
It is reported that some Bangladeshis, working in hospitals of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, procure insulin, supplied to the hospitals free of cost, and send it to
Bangladesh.
Two brands of insulin including Actrapid and Insulaterd are mainly smuggled into the country. The smuggled insulin has a label with a date tree printed on it and Arabic writing on its pack.
In Bangladesh the DAB and some other companies import insulin which has to have the registration number of the drug administration and the name of the importer.
But the smuggled ones do not bear the seal of the drug administration or the name of the importer.
Some drug traders at Shahbagh said they sell smuggled insulin as the margin of profit is higher. However, many of them denied that they were selling smuggled insulin. The price of imported insulin is Tk 580, while the same brand of smuggled insulin is selling between Tk 400 and 500.
The widely used brands of insulin in the country are Mixtard HM, Actrapid, Insulaterd, Lente and Novopen imported by the DAB and some companies.
Dr Hazera Mahtab of BIRDEM said the patients should avoid taking insulin not preserved properly.
"The patients may face complications if they use such insulin," she said. "Patients suffering from type-1 diabetes need insulin and their number is small."
According to the DAB, the number of diabetes patients in the country is around 50 lakh.