Vaccine trafficking has been dismantled in the Indonesian archipelago. Nearly thirty clinics are involved, and ten individuals have already been arrested.
The authorities are still struggling to define the extent of the scandal. Last week, a major traffic in fake vaccines was dismantled in Indonesia, AFP reported on Wednesday. According to the first elements of the investigation, unveiled by the authorities, for a little over ten years, the network would have sold – with complete impunity – fake vaccines to Indonesian clinics. And among them: fake vaccines against tetanus, tuberculosis or hepatitis B. In all, about thirty clinics, across the country, are involved, and their stocks were seized. Investigators also arrested 16 individuals including a married couple, suspected by the courts of being at the head of trafficking.
A vast amount of painstaking work awaits investigators
The case began when a pharmaceutical group alerted the Indonesian authorities, after identifying several counterfeit drugs. For now, the government, which is taking the problem head-on, is struggling to determine the extent of the scandal. “We are working with the National Food and Drug Control Agency to collect data and take all necessary measures,” one of the ministry’s spokespersons, Oscar Primadi, told AFP. Without forgetting to recall that “if vaccines must be redone, we will do it again, it is not impossible”. After the revelation, the Indonesian Pediatric Association urged all parents whose children have been vaccinated to see their doctor. In Indonesia, 30% of drugs sold are said to be counterfeit.
6 to 15% of the global market for counterfeit medicines
Drug trafficking is a global public health problem. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one in ten drugs sold worldwide is probably fake, and 6 to 15% of the global drug market is counterfeit. For example, counterfeit drugs and vaccines against malaria and tuberculosis alone are responsible for 700,000 deaths per year.
In addition, over the past ten years, an increase in the number of counterfeit drugs has been observed. Counterfeiting spares no country. France took part, from May 30 to June 7, in an international operation called PANGEA IX aimed at combating the illicit sale of drugs on the Internet. About 100 countries were involved in the maneuver, which was coordinated by Interpol and the World Customs Organization. This operation resulted in a large number of arrests and reports of offenses around the world. For a week, 961,192 illicit health products and 1,422 kg of bulk health products were seized across France.
Find the program L’Invité Santé “Counterfeit drugs more profitable than drug trafficking” with Wilfrid Rogé, director of training at the International Institute for Anti-Counterfeit Medicines Research (IRACM).
.
