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Counterfeit medicines are unsafe and ineffective. The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) works to address the growing threat of counterfeit medicines to patient safety and public health. Included in their toolkit for healthcare professionals you will find: An overview of the situation on counterfeit medicines and the role of healthcare professionals (HPCs) A model report for HPCs who wish to report an incident of counterfeit medicines A visual inspection checklist for medicines An information leaflet Read more…

In a 5 video series, Bayer documents the trail of fake medicines into Europe and the efforts of customs, the police and manufactures to stop these dangerous products from reaching the market. As part of INTERPOL’s Operation Pangea- an international control action to combat the smuggling of illegal medicines – in 2013 there were 10 million seizures of counterfeit medicines across over 100 countries. As stated by Frankfurt Airport Customs, when dealing with counterfeits: “We observe Read more…

Paul Newton of the Wellcome Trust explains why counterfeit medicines have dangerous ramifications even beyond death and disability. Watch the video here and click here to view more videos and resources about counterfeit medicines, a “Spotlight issue” of the Wellcome Trust.    The Wellcome Trust is one of the world’s largest biomedical research charities and its mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) outlines the following qualities of spurious/falsely-labelled/ falsified/counterfeit (SFFC) medical products: SFFC medicines are medicines that are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source. Use of SFFC medicines can result in treatment failure or even death. Public confidence in health systems may be eroded following use and/or detection of SFFC medicines. Both branded and generic products are subject to counterfeiting. All kinds of medicines have been counterfeited, from Read more…

The Institute of Medicine has published a report, Countering the Problem of Falsified and Substandard Drugs, to disclose its findings on the potential threats fake medicines have to consumers. The report highlights the heavy burden falsified medicines place upon developing countries, but notes that developed countries also experience incidents of falsified and substandard medicines infiltrating the supply chain.   Click on the image to read full study.