Council of Europe aims to stop sale of counterfeit medicines

The Council of Europe is preparing a new international convention to put an end to the manufacture of counterfeit medicines and their sales both through pharmacies and via the Internet.

The EC will start inviting states to sign the convention in 2010 after its formal adoption.

"The global nature of the Internet makes it an excellent way to promote health literacy. However, it also implies risks the new convention will address, such as the marketing of medicines and healthcare products that can be dangerous," the Council of Europe said.

The convention will oblige EU members to criminalise "the manufacturing of counterfeit medical products, supplying, offering to supply and trafficking in counterfeit medicinal products, the falsification of documents and similar crimes involving threats to public health."

It will also provide for a framework for international co-operation, measures for co-ordination at national level, preventative measures and protection of victims and witnesses.

Raising awareness of the risks and benefits of buying medicines online was a key objective of a recent workshop, Medicines on the Net, organised by the Council of Europe.

Hugo Bonar, enforcement manager of the Irish Medicines Board and a Council of Europe expert, who chaired the workshop, said: "We must empower the consumer with accurate and good quality information that may be valid in different legal frameworks.

"Medical products are different from other commodities offered via the Internet because without the adequate prescription or due to a bad quality, you may die," he said.

He added that prescription medicines should be sold and shipped with a prescription after face-to-face contact with the prescriber, and any regulations related to this issue need to be international, because products may be offered via a website and bought, shipped or advertised in different countries worldwide.