UNODC says fake drugs cost pharma industry US$1.6bn in Asia and Africa
Three out of 10 pharmaceutical products are fakes in Asia, Africa and Latin America
The United Nations’ main crime-fighting body has valued the cost of the fraudulent medicine industry at US$1.6bn annually in Africa and Asia alone.
Fake medicines have become an important health-related concern and a growing area of organised crime, with which international bodies deal more often, said the UN Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC).
‘Fraudulent medicines offer organised criminal groups a high return commodity with relatively low risks, ultimately at the expense of the health of unsuspecting people,’ said UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov.
Fedotov made the remark after a meeting of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna asked the UNODC, with other international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Customs Organisation and Interpol, to help governments respond to this growing threat.
The WHO recently identified as fake three out of 10 pharmaceutical products in the combined African, Asian and Latin American markets.