The Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare has stated that Maldives was the first to inform the World Health Organization (WHO) there are fake batches of the "Darzalex" cancer treatment.

As per the WHO's alert, Maldives and Mexico have reported that they came across fake injections for the cancer treatment.

When questioned whether any patient has been given the injection, an official from the Health Ministry told Mihaaru News that Maldives reporting the issue to WHO upon discovering it shows the monitoring strength of the nation, and is something Maldivians should be proud of.

A matter such as this being reported by a small country like Maldives shows the stability of medication testing done by Maldives, as was said by the official. They also said Maldives was the first to report it to the WHO.

According to the WHO's alert, the two countries that alerted them of the fake injections did so in May and June.

WHO also stated their biggest concern is that some hospitals have received the medication, and that this should be a cause for concern regarding the international system in providing medication.

The fake injections have been supplied by unauthorized distributors.

"Darzalex" is an antibody used to treat multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, and amyloidosis, where insoluble proteins build up in the body's organs.

The medication serves an important role in treating various types of cancer. The circulation of lower quality variations of the medication will cause treatment delays, treatment failures, and possible life-threatening outcomes, said WHO.

WHO has identified the batch numbers of the medication that has been fraudulently released into the market under false medical products. While referring to the company that makes the medication, Janssen, WHO said batch numbers MYS7381 and STV1K01 are the fake batches.

And so, WHO has advised to not use any of the "Darzalex" medication from those batches.