Counterfeit malaria drugs kill thousands in Africa
MediaGlobal (a global news agency, based in the United Nations Secretariat) recently reported on the WHO’s increasing efforts to combat counterfeit medications in Africa — and the deadly impact of these fakes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stepped up their efforts to combat the creation and distribution of counterfeit malaria pills in Africa. WHO estimates that upwards of 2,000 children a day are being killed as a result of taking these phony medications. Dr. Lembit Rago, Coordinator of WHO Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies, told MediaGlobal, “Usually products in high demand, price or sizeable market are counterfeited; malaria drugs fulfill all these criteria…[Counterfeit malaria pills] may contain no active ingredients, may contain wrong active ingredients or even correct active ingredients.”
There is usually a low amount of active ingredient, like the pain reliever paracetamol, in fake malaria medications, according to Rago, in order to “cheat qualitative screening tests that just react to the presence of certain actives, and thus may mimic false positive results.” The ingredient may soothe malaria symptoms temporarily, but the disease remains unaffected. It is also possible that counterfeit drugs contain harmful or strange chemicals, like sildenafil, normally contained in the anti-impotency drug known as Viagra. Rago continued to say that, since malaria kills, counterfeit pills that provide no treatment “kill as well”.
Low quantities of actives can also contribute to raising resistance and losing valuable drugs in the long term.” As far as steps being taken to combat this practice, Rago reported, “There is no one magic bullet. It is a complexity of measures and cooperation of all concerned parties that works the best. The key is effective market control and functioning regulatory systems, including good cooperation between different enforcement agencies.”
Read this article on counterfeit drugs on the Patients and Patents blog.
