The number of problems associated with taking fake drugs has increased by 60% in five years, which worries NGOs.
The trafficking of fake drugs is increasing all over the world, including in France. According to the public health NGO Pharmaceutical Security Institutecited by BFM TV, the number of problems associated with taking fake drugs has increased by 60% in five years. 20% of the global pharmaceutical market would thus be made up of fake drugs, compared to only 1% in 2006. This illegal market would currently produce 200 billion dollars in economic benefits per year, against 75 billion in 2006. Selling fake drugs would in fact bring in up to 500 times their initial price to the mafias.
A threat to health
All drugs are concerned, such as cancer treatments, painkillers and or Viagra, with sometimes fatal consequences. “Counterfeit medicines are a threat to the health and safety of patients worldwide. They may have no active ingredient or contain dangerous impurities, they may imitate brand name drugs, generics or drugs sold in pharmacies without a prescription,” says the Pharmaceutical Security Institute.
According to the Institute for Anti-Counterfeit Drug Research (IRCAM), another NGO, trafficking concerns more and more countries, especially Western ones. Thus, even if the emerging markets still concentrate between 30 and 60% of the total of counterfeit drugs in circulation, “parallel imports (authorized by the European Community for distributors and wholesalers), the free circulation of drugs and the possibilities of purchases on the internet contribute to weakening the system and expose the national markets to increasing risks of the entry of fake medicines”, deplores IRCAM.
Online platforms
The Internet is proving to be the favorite tool of drug traffickers. “Online platforms can be set up and taken down in the blink of an eye. The elusive nature of this trade makes decisions difficult”, explains the Figaro Philippe Lamoureux, Managing Director of Leem, (professional organization of French pharmaceutical companies). According to him, about twenty new online pharmacies open every day, 90% of which are illicit.
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