"Redesign of medical supply chains in Africa"

Mr. Robin Cartwright (3rd from right), lead author of the study report on counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Africa with participants. Image: BENEDICT OBUOBI

Three international security organizations, including INTERPOL, have called for a major overhaul of the regulatory, enforcement and education systems of medical supply chains in Africa to reduce the proliferation of counterfeit medicines.

According to the three organizations – the Institute for Security Studies, INTERPOL and the Global Transnational Organized Crime Initiative – there was a liberal criminal market for fake medical products that caused many lives every year.

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The appeal was part of the recommendations of a study entitled "The rise of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Africa", sponsored by the three organizations as part of a larger project entitled "Improving Africa's Response to Crime". transnational organization (ENACT) ".

ENACT released yesterday the key findings of the study in Accra, in collaboration with the International Peacekeeping Training Center Kofi Annan (KAIPTC).

ENACT, a project implemented by the three organizations and funded by the European Union (EU), aims to strengthen Africa's capacity to fight transnational organized crime more effectively.

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Targeted Africa

Mr. Robin Cartwright, lead author of the report, presented the main findings of the research. He said fake pharmaceuticals accounted for about 30% of the drugs on the market and their value was estimated at $ 200 billion a year. the most lucrative sector of illegally copied products.

He added that counterfeiters found Africa easier to target because it had not developed a panoply of responses to counterfeit pharmaceuticals in which tracking and tracing technology was used.

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In addition, he added, globalization has made it harder to regulate, monitor and quality medical products, with drugs being manufactured, printed and shipped to and from a number of countries where fraud is possible.

Cartwright said counterfeiters were targeting high-demand drugs, adding that antimalarials and antibiotics are commonly reported counterfeits.

According to him, research conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has shown that fake antimalarial drugs make 64,000 to 158,000 deaths per year in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said drugs for deadly diseases such as malaria, HIV, typhoid, syphilis, among others, were counterfeit and therefore lacked essential ingredients that could actually act on these diseases.

Mr. Cartwright said that what made the situation even more worrying was that these drugs were widely sold in the streets.

recommendations

Although some countries seem to have made efforts to combat the threat, Cartwright said, the current responses are not robust enough and their approach is rather fragmented.

It therefore recommended that a legal and regulatory framework for the fight against medical fraud be put in place and implemented at national levels.

"When counterfeit pharmaceuticals are detected, incident response should be prompt and proportionate, protect patients and take appropriate action against those responsible, without causing unnecessary scarcity or mistrust. regarding drugs, "he advised.

It further recommended that a consistent and regular badessment of counterfeit medicines be made and that the public be made aware of the threat.

"Buy from registered locations"

Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, director of pharmaceuticals at the Ministry of Health, corroborated the fact that counterfeit medicines were hostile to the health care system and frustrated efforts to achieve universal health coverage.

She said the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) were working hard to contain the challenge through their monitoring and surveillance systems.

Gyansa-Lutterodt said the public must work with the ministry and the FDA to fight counterfeit medicines by providing information to both organs and refraining from using them.

She also urged members of the public to buy drugs only from registered pharmacies and authorized chemical sellers, and never on vehicles and other unauthorized premises.