The Deadly Scourge of Fake Drugs
The deadly scourge of fake drugs: counterfeit drugs, which are not only ineffective in treating illnesses but can and do actually kill patients, now form 25% of all medicines in the developing world. The menace is increasing in Africa, as Tom Nevin reports.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 25% of all medicines in less developed countries (LDCs) are counterfeit. In some countries, the prevalence is far higher.
The report Counterfeit medicines in less developed countries: problems and solutions by the International Policy Network’s (IPN) executive director Julian Morris and health programme director Philip Stevens says the majority of counterfeit medicines originates in LDCs, including the bogus drugs that end up in the US and European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community . “Much of the debate surrounding counterfeit medicines to date has focused on how to prevent them seeping into the supply chain of developed country markets,” they say.
Statistics assembled by Morris and Stevens make frightening reading:
* Counterfeit medicines comprise 40% to 50% of total supply in Nigeria and Pakistan
* Some products in China have a counterfeit constituent of 50% to 85%
* Some 37% of antibiotics and anti-malarials on the WHO essential drugs list in Nigeria and Thailand are substandard
* A recent survey by the WHO of seven African countries found that between 20% and 90% of all anti-malarials failed quality testing.
“In spite of a lack of hard data, it is clear that counterfeit medicines are not confined to a handful of therapeutic classes,” the IPN researchers say. “This is especially true in LDCs where the range of fakes on the markets encompass treatments for a diverse range of conditions and ailments.” The top five counterfeited medicines in the Philippines, considered representative of the global trade, are blood pressure tablets, anti-asthma drugs, analgesics, anti-diarrhoea treatments and vitamin pills. Other favourites for counterfeiting include drugs for treating anaemia, HIV, schizophrenia and growth promotion hormones.
Such medical consumables as non-sterile syringes and gauze, and even substandard electronic medical equipment are also on the counterfeiters’ list.
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