10-12 per cent of drugs imported to Armenia are counterfeit, an Armenian scientist said.

“Yet, this is not a complete picture due to the absence of continuous monitoring of the medicine market in Armenia,” academician Emil Gabrielyan, the head of the national laboratory for the medicine quality control, told a news conference in Yerevan on April 7.

According to him, constant monitoring of production and import of medicines should be conducted.

“6 to 60 per cent of medicines are faked worldwide for different reasons. Some types of drugs may be masked by others to be illegally imported into the country. This technique is used by drug traffickers,” Emil Gabrielyan said.

The scientist said, 3700 names of drugs are registered in Armenia, out of which Armenia produces only 5-7 per cent.