Based on the article ‘Von Viagra bis Antibiotika: Der Handel mit gefälschten Medikamenten floriert in Afrika’ by Corina Gall, Ouagadougou, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Counterfeit drugs in Africa: a lucrative and deadly trade.
On the streets of Ouagadougou, street vendors sell prescription drugs that nobody knows exactly what is inside. This has sometimes devastating consequences.
Counterfeit medicines are a serious problem in Burkina Faso; their side effects can be devastating. Ibuprofen, paracetamol, antibiotics and malaria prophylaxis: the illegal drug trade offers everything – and it flourishes. With an estimated 200 billion dollars, it is the world’s most lucrative market for illegally copied goods.
Fatal consequences: counterfeit drugs can be deadly.
The counterfeit medicines are also easy to find on the streets of Ouagadougou. Demand is high, mainly due to poverty in the West African country. Counterfeit drugs can be fatal as they can contain no active ingredients at all or the wrong dosage. Sometimes, they are almost identical to the originals, but their ingredients differ considerably.
Casimir Sawadogo is the director of Inspection Pharmaceutique, an agency that reports to the Burkinabe Ministry of Health. Within the West African Health Organization, of which fifteen states are members, he is working with other experts on a strategy to curb the supply of and demand for medicines on the black market. One of the major problems is self-medication, where street vendors have no medical training and often do not know how to take the medication.
The global scope of the problem: China and India lead production.
The problem concerns ministries of health, security agencies and physicians worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China and India are among the largest producers of false medicines, ahead of Paraguay, Pakistan and the UK.
The WHO estimates that one in ten medicines in emerging and developing countries is low-grade or counterfeit.
Smuggling to West Africa in particular is flourishing, where the demand for medicines to prevent and treat malaria is particularly high. About 90 percent of malaria cases worldwide are recorded in Africa. The WHO estimates that about one third of the malaria drugs sold here are counterfeit. Nigeria has the highest rate of counterfeiting with 64 percent.
The need for awareness: a challenge in rural areas.
An investigation by the WHO had shown that the manufacturer of a counterfeit Viagra pill came from Great Britain. The product is not approved for the market and the dose it contains is far too high. A committee set up by the West African Health Organization is already working on an awareness campaign, although this campaign relies heavily on television commercials – a somewhat ineffective approach in a country where the majority of the population lives in rural areas and without electricity.
It is precisely in these areas, however, that traders find a particularly large number of buyers. On the one hand, the level of education outside the cities is lower, and on the other there is a lack of pharmacies. In Burkina Faso there are isolated medical centres in the more rural areas, including a pharmacy depot. However, its rudimentary offer cannot be compared to that of a regular pharmacy.
A multi-faceted approach: addressing the complexity of the problem.
The trade in counterfeit medicines in Africa is a complex problem that requires a multi-faceted approach to solve. Efforts to raise awareness and curb the supply and demand for these dangerous drugs must be stepped up, especially in rural areas where education and access to proper medical care are limited.
This text provides an overview of the issue of counterfeit medicines in Africa and the devastating consequences it can have. We thank Corina Gall, Ouagadougou and Neue Zurcher Zeitung for their valuable reporting on this important issue. Read the original article here.
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