On October 3rd, FTFA was invited by the World Trade Organization to speak at a closed-door panel discussion about “Substandard, Falsified and Counterfeit Medical Products” alongside the World Health Organization and the World Customs Organization. The event brought together country representatives from 30+ countries in the context of WTO’s annual Trade and Public Health Workshop.
Photo: Andrea Vassalotti, Director of
Partnerships and Programmes at the World Heart Federation and Chair of the Fight the Fakes Alliance
Building on the FTFA white paper, participants learned about the dangers of substandard and falsified medical products, but also about the solutions that exist and could be expanded further to fight SFs, including accredited drug dispensing outlets, political commitments to harmonize regulations like in the Lome Initiative the empowerment of custom officers, public campaigns to raise awareness of buying drugs from unverified sources online and on the street, and more.
Photo: Sophie Robert, Focal Point, Fight the Fakes Alliance
