Since our successful side event during the World Health Assembly in Geneva at the end of May, our campaign and the issue of falsified medicines has received great attention the media!
First and foremost, a lengthy article in the Guardian ‘Fight the fakes: how to beat the $200bn medicine counterfeiters’ explores the devastating health impact falsified medicines can have on people by illustrating a real-life example of a teenager who died in a hospital in Ghana after taking falsified antimalarials. The article then highlights various emerging technologies, such as blockchain and AI, which have great potential in tackling the surge of counterfeit medicines.
Detailing the work of the Nigerian tech start-up RxAll and the UK-based data company Farmatrust, the European Medicines Verification System and local organisations, such as the Safe Medicines Foundation Nigeria, the article concludes with the plea of a Ghana-based doctor:
‘Giving individuals more power, through education and the right information to choose the medication that isn’t harmful, is the most important thing that I want to see. It is a universal right to choose medicine that won’t harm you.’
Another article in Devex ‘Tech solutions to fight fake medicines’ also shines light on the digital technologies which are increasingly emerging to fight the growing burden of falsified medicines. Highlighting our World Health Assembly side event and quoting our partner, the University College London’s (UCL) Fight the Fakes chapter founder Oksana Pyzik, the article urges for a greater collaboration among governments, civil society and industry to stop fake medicines from reaching the consumers.
