Counterfeit drug trade

waltky · Oct 4, 2012

Counterfeit drug trade hits $30B mark...

Global Trade in Fake Drugs Tops $30 Billion
October 04, 2012 - The World Health Organization estimates that 25 percent of medicines sold in poor countries are counterfeit. Monitoring by the World Bank and others suggests the overall global trade in fake and substandard drugs is now more than $30 billion per year. Experts are asking for stricter regulation and better international collaboration to check this public health menace.

Some 40 percent of the drugs available in many sub-Saharan African and South American countries are either fake or substandard - according to research by the World Bank and international public health groups. And experts say the widespread circulation of poor-quality or substandard medicines leads to frequent treatment failure and even loss of life. Experts working to stop this counterfeit drug traffic met in Washington recently to discuss legal and enforcement solutions. Louise Shelley is a criminologist and director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University in Virginia. We are focusing much more on narcotics trafficking rather than on counterfeits that can do harm to many more individuals than consuming of illicit drugs," said Shelley.

Shelley says sophisticated transnational criminal organizations are behind the manufacture and distribution of drugs that do not conform to proper standards. She says only a coordinated international effort can deal with organized crime on this scale. I think WHO, law enforcement community, consumer organizations, civil society everybody has a role in it," she said. You have no guarantee of the safety, efficacy or quality of those products," said Margaret Hamburg. Dr. Margaret Hamburg heads the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency which oversees the safety of drugs and food products in the United States. The FDA took strong action this week against thousands of internet pharmacies selling illegal medical products.

Dr. Patrick Lukulay of The United States Pharmacopeia, an organization that sets standards for medicines, says drug purity needs to be ensured through an international initiative, because the ingredients come from many parts of the world. In the US - 80 percent of active ingredients come from either India or China into the US so US companies are vulnerable," said Lukulay. In India you have 10,000 manufacturing companies and so although the regulators are making investments its difficult to catch up," said Andreas Seiter. Andreas Seiter is a global pharmaceutical expert. He says many countries need to increase their regulatory capabilities.

And Michael Bates of the World Health Organization says it is not only patients who are ignorant about fake medicines. He says many health professionals are also unaware. This is a complex international trade. And we need greater information on the scale and the scope, the harm and economic damage done by this issue to convince the policy makers to commit resources to tackle this," said Bates. Experts say a worldwide, coordinated effort is needed to deal with the problem - including better monitoring and regulation, upgrades in law enforcement capabilities, and the sharing of testing technology.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 6, 2012

France nabs counterfeit drug traffickers...

Operaton Pangea seizes counterfeit drugs
Oct. 5,`12 (UPI) -- A series of raids in 100 countries led to the seizure of 3.75 million doses of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, Interpol, based in Frances, said Friday.

Officials said the total haul in this year's Operation Pangea was worth 8.1 million euros ($10.6 million), a record for the global effort, Radio France Internationale reported.

Pangea 5 was carried out between Sept. 25 and Oct. 2. Customs agents seized pharmaceuticals that included dietary supplements, appetite-suppression pills and drugs aimed at everything from male impotence to cancer, and arrested 79 people.

"As the Internet becomes increasingly accessible around the world, so the number of potential victims increases, which is why international multisector actions such as Operation Pangea are vital," said Aline Plançon, head of Interpol's Medical Products Counterfeiting and Pharmaceutical Crime unit.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...rfeit-drugs/UPI-35861349478949/#ixzz28WcmMwKM
Click to expand...

tkolter · Oct 6, 2012

If the drugs are to expensive for poor countries to by from legit sources what other options do you give them?

Richard Powell · Nov 1, 2012

There must be some other option if this drug is expensive for a poor country to buy it.One alternative I can suggest here that we can go for generic development of drugs as it cost remarkable less to buyer as well to the manufacturing country.

Log in or Sign up

Counterfeit drug trade

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

tkolter Well-Known Member

Richard Powell New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Counterfeit drug trade

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

tkolter Well-Known Member

Richard Powell New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches