The Peterson Group Review: Profits too High, Penalty too Low

davidlowe25 — 2015-10-01 03:19:43 UTC

The issues of counterfeit medicines have increased steadily in complexity and organization. The proliferation of fake, falsified and substandard medicines has tragic consequences, which until now has been considered a crime against humanity.

Let’s turn our focus on the continent of Africa where millions were victimized by anti-malarial drug before they found out that the medicine includes substances and chemicals which are hazardous to human health.

A raid was held in 16 ports in both the east and west coasts of Africa last July which allowed the World Customs Organization and other independent non-profit agencies to seize more than $82 million worth of illicit medicines from which the counterfeits are created and copied from. Fake cough syrups, anti-parasitic and anti-malarial drugs as well as contraceptives were seized from fraudsters who admitted to have been in illegal operation for more than 5 years.

This operation, however, exposed the negligence of the government to counter the widespread of the issue in the country. The Peterson Group, one of the non-profit organizations who took part in the raid, noted the weak system of the agencies in charge of licensing and regulating drugs. This factor is the same issue being faced in cities with the most number of counterfeited medicines. Jakarta, Indonesia and Beijing, China are both being asked to reform their own health agencies and consider the suggestions of experts under the review of World Health Organization (WHO). Africa is about to face the same verdict.

Lack of training, insufficient manpower and corruption often plague national regulatory agencies which are the same issues with the abovementioned cities.

Furthermore, government inspectors frequently accept bribes and kick-backs to allow the fake drugs to pass borders, gaining their own profit. ROI of these illegal dealings even reach billions of dollars annually.

The WHO is helping countries develop the expertise needed to regulate drugs. Drug registration, also called marketing authorization or product licensing, is a thorough evaluation to ensure a drug is safe for consumption.

Manufacturing, storage and distribution must also follow strict guidelines. Without registration, the drugs cannot be marketed.

To fast-track registration, the WHO encourages national regulatory authorities to choose medicines from its list of pre-qualified products. But it’s up to the individual countries to decide to register a product or not.

The government of Africa is now considering giving WHO the total control as long as the autonomy between countries is not broken.

Growing Arrests Against Drug Counterfeiters

davidlowe25 — 2016-02-08 02:35:17 UTC

The world has fought battles against drug counterfeiting for decades. Different government entities, private institutions, non-profit organizations and civilians continuously hold seminars, workshops and awareness campaigns to promote concrete law enforcement action in the field with the ultimate aim to obliterate drug counterfeiting and place behind bars fraudsters responsible for the increasing mortality rate caused by substandard and dangerous medicines.

Health advocate, Marie Pollack of The Peterson Group, an NGO campaigning against drug fraudulence in the Asia Pacific region stated, “Medicines were once trusted to cure people from their maladies. Now, it is being feared”. The increasing adaptation to herbal and alternative medicine shows that people are starting to doubt their confidence. The efficacy of the medicine being brought in the market and presented to people is being questioned.

Pollack added, “It is good that people are being cautious of their own choices but if this continues, credibility of scientifically tested medicines which underwent several methods of experimentations to prove its effectiveness would come to waste, not to mention the economic impact in the health sector”.

Fortunately, the authorities are never stopping their campaign to arrest the fraudsters behind this cruel illegal practice. With the likes of World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Interpol, other NGOs and local government units having the same cause are supported with 'interventions package' for all stages of an investigation from gathering intelligence, planning and implementing an operation, through to legal issues for cases that are brought to court.

Dozens of operations were already held in the last previous years to determine the illegal manufacturers and masterminds of this deadly trade. Interpol, for instance, has launched different actions in different regions of the world. Their flagship operations - Storm (Southeast Asia), Mamba (Eastern Africa) and Pangea (targeting the Internet) – continue to go from strength to strength. Successive raids on licit and illicit markets have shown improved results in terms of seizures, arrests, convictions and the closure of illicit websites.

Several other operations are being conducted. In developing countries, WHO has headed countless arrests and ambush procedures. For instances, last year, WHO, TPG and local authorities of Jakarta, seized more than 300 packs of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis in a dilapidated building in Menteng, Indonesia. In Europe, customs officers seized 34 million counterfeit pills in just two months while China has closed down 2,000 websites offering online prescriptions.

The Peterson Group - Counterfeit Drug Awareness Program by David Lowe

The Peterson Group Review: Profits too High, Penalty too Low

Growing Arrests Against Drug Counterfeiters