Product authentication, particularly pharmaceuticals, is one of the most practical applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that will promote acceptance of the technology, an RFID workshop heard in Johannesburg last week.
The event was organised by the supply chain organisation, Sapics, and aimed at providing attendees from a wide variety of industries a comprehensive view of RFID technology and its practical application in local and overseas markets.
"RFID technology could easily be used to authenticate pharmaceuticals to give consumers the peace of mind of knowing they are buying the genuine article," said Eon de Koker, CEO of Pretoria-based Techsolutions.
De Koker explained that RFID readers could be set up at the point of sale and by scanning the item being purchased, consumers could get confirmation of the date and place of manufacture, ensuring the product is not counterfeit.
The United Nations World Health Organisation has estimated that counterfeit pharmaceuticals account for as much as 10% of the global drug market. This puts thousands of lives at risk each year because the deliberate mislabelling of a product or altering drugs can cause dangerous interactions with other drugs.
Dr Dor Nkem Akunyili of Nigeria`s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control is on record as saying the health risk from counterfeit pharmaceuticals is greater than that of AIDS and malaria combined.
"In SA, drugs stolen from state hospital dispensaries are channelled into retail pharmacies, often in collusion with the pharmacists, but RFID could be used to detect and eliminate this practice," said De Koker.
Studies have revealed that drug suppliers in SA have an extensive sales force of more than a thousand people who visit pharmacies on a regular basis. De Koker said it would be a cost-effective solution to train this sales force and equip its members with RFID scanners to conduct random checks to ensure no counterfeit or rechannelled drugs are sold by pharmacies.
In addition to authenticating pharmaceuticals, De Koker said RFID could be used to protect all branded goods such as clothing, computer software, automotive components, CDs and DVDs that are routinely prey to counterfeiting.
"RFID could be used as a marketing mechanism to reassure customers their purchases are authentic, which may also prove useful in overcoming market resistance to the RFID tracking technology because of fears of privacy invasion," said De Koker.
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