[e-drug] IFPMA criticises WHO on fake drug inaction

[fiorenza@hst.org.za]

E-DRUG: IFPMA criticises WHO on fake drug inaction
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[Interesting report from the Johannesburg Sustainable Development Meeting.

We all agree that fake drugs are a bad thing that should be stopped, but
IFPMA criticising WHO for doing not enough is a bold step.

Industry itself knows best which drugs are fake, but often keeps quiet
(even if there are dangers for public health!) as consumers might stop
buying the real product...

WHO can only come into action if a fake drug is reported by a country or
drug regulatory authority or industry. How many fake drugs were reported by
industry to WHO??

Maybe IFPMA wants to spread fears of fake drugs as generics might threaten
their profits? We always hear industry talk about fakes when we talk about
parallel imports.

Anyway, what evidence does Mr Bale have that 50% of the drugs in Nigeria
are fake?
There was a study in the 1980s which found that more than 50% of drugs sold
illegally in the streets were substandard or fake, but surely, Nigeria also
must be selling drugs through pharmacies and hospitals?

And where is the evidence that 25-50% of Africa's drugs are counterfeit?
That sounds extremely unlikely, given that the big South African market has
only very occasionally reported a fake drug.

Copied as fair use; crossposted with thanks from Druginfo. WB]


Health talks should look at fake drugs
>From Hoover's Online
Financial Times Information Limited - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
August 28, 2002
Tamar Kahn
08/28/2002

The head of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
Associations, Harvey Bale, has criticised the World Health Organisation
(WHO)
for failing to ensure that the issue of counterfeit drugs is prominent on
the
agenda during health talks at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Health is one of the five focus areas of the summit, as identified by
United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Although the summit's key negotiating
text includes a provision to increase access to "essential and safe drugs",
the
issue of counterfeit drugs did not feature at Monday's plenary session on
health.

Bale said there was a growing "plague of counterfeit drugs", which was
having a
particularly devastating effect on the health of people in Africa. "We
don't
have good data, but we estimate that 1% to 2% of the worldwide
pharmaceutical
market is counterfeit," he said. The African market was worst affected,
with up
to 50% of the drugs sold in Nigeria being fake. The most common
counterfeits
found in Africa were antibiotics and painkillers. "They are cheap and easy
to
make, and are being marketed on street corners." He said it was "almost
impossible" to quantify the number of deaths due to counterfeit drugs, but
estimated that they were responsible for more deaths in Africa than
sleeping
sickness.

In Africa as a whole, 25% to 50% of the market was counterfeit, he said,
and in
Latin America it was 15% to 20%. Bale said the main sources of counterfeit
drugs were India, China and Russia. He accused governments of failing to
direct
resources to tackle the problem, and pointed fingers at politicians in
India
and eastern Europe, who he said were colluding with organised crime
syndicates
to distribute and market fake medicines. "It's a growing business.
Counterfeiting is becoming as profitable as illegal drugs," he said.
Organised
crime syndicates knew that it was less risky to deal in counterfeit
medicines
because police focused their resources on combating illegal drugs such as
heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.

"It's possible to make money out of selling talcum powder and putting water
in
syringes. It's a silent killer." Bale also criticised the WHO for what he
described as an "over emphasis on disease control", saying that there were
only
a handful of WHO officials dealing with the issue of poor quality drugs.

He said many people saw the trade in counterfeit medicines as one of "
ripping
off" pharmaceutical companies and thus an industry problem, rather than a
health a problem. Bale also pointed fingers at the national level, saying
many
countries failed to have strong inspectorates within their medicines
regulatory
bodies, such as the SA Medicines Control Council

--------
Fiorenza Monticelli
HealthLink Editor
Tel: +27 31 307 2954
Fax: + 27 31 304 0775
fiorenza@hst.org.za
http://www.hst.org.za



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