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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:30 pm
Time: 8:30 pm
Results for counterfeit pharmaceuticals
2 results foundAuthor: Finlay, Brian D. Title: Counterfeit Drugs and National Security Summary: The deadly implications of counterfeit drugs are well understood to be a central challenge to the integrity of public health systems around the globe, as well as a direct threat to our individual health and welfare. What is less understood is that the profits from this sinister crime are increasingly being co-opted by an array of organized criminal groups and terrorist entities as a means by which to fund their nefarious operations around the world. As such, counterfeit pharmaceuticals pose a direct threat to national and international security. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), counterfeit drugs could make up as much as half of the global pharmaceutical market, with the largest share of fake products circulating in the developing world where regulation and enforcement capacity is comparatively weak. Though the basis of this estimate is unclear, the figure is especially alarming given the narrow definition of “counterfeit” used by the agency. However, it is clear that counterfeit pharmaceuticals remain one of the world’s fastest growing industries. Recent trends suggest a massive increase in counterfeit drug sales to over $70 billion globally in 2010. This is an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005. Although the counterfeiting of, and trafficking in, all manner of products is on the rise globally — including currency, documents, software, and electronics — no other bogus product has the capacity to harm or even kill its consumer as do illicit pharmaceuticals. Additionally, most other counterfeits are not quite as lucrative. According to a recent report on counterfeit drugs by the global pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, profits from counterfeiting today surpass gains made from heroin and cocaine. These alarming rates of growth are, in part, a result of the growing size and sophistication of drug counterfeiting rings, and the widening involvement of organized transnational criminals and even international terrorist groups looking to fund their illegal and unrelated activities worldwide. Indeed, not only have groups such as the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, Chinese triads, and Mexican drug gangs all become heavily involved in producing and trafficking counterfeit drugs over the past decade, but mounting evidence also points to the direct involvement of Hezbollah and al Qaeda. With increased opportunity to make gains from the pharmaceutical counterfeit industry, nefarious actors are likely to pay even more attention to it in the future. As such, the problem is not only a public health hazard of highest magnitude; it is also a national and international security threat. Details: Washington, DC: The Stimson Center, 2011. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2011 at: http://www.stimson.org/images/uploads/research-pdfs/Full_-_Counterfeit_Drugs_and_National_Security.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.stimson.org/images/uploads/research-pdfs/Full_-_Counterfeit_Drugs_and_National_Security.pdf Shelf Number: 120881 Keywords: Counterfeit DrugsCounterfeit PharmaceuticalsOrganized CrimeTerrorist Financing |
Author: Harris, Julian Title: Keeping it Real: Combating the spread of fake drugs in poor countries Summary: The outbreak of swine flu yet again brought fake medicines into the limelight, with Interpol warning of a quick spread in fake cures. Counterfeit and substandard medicines increasingly plague all corners of the world, causing death, suffering and provoking new drug resistant strands of disease. Up to a third of medicines in poor countries are counterfeit, according to the UK’s Department for International Development, while surveys in poor parts of the world show up to half of medicines are fakes. This paper estimates that 700,000 suffers of malaria and tuberculosis alone die annually due to fake drugs. This is the equivalent of four fully-laden jumbo jets crashing every single day. The root causes of the scourge of fake drugs must be understood in order to tackle the problem, with defective legal systems and government distortions of pharmaceutical markets largely to blame. Fortunately a new wave of technologies can protect the identity of high quality medicines, and are sufficiently complex to make counterfeiting economically unviable. Combined with stronger trademark laws and lower barriers to high quality medicines, these technologies offer real hope to the world’s poorest people. Details: Washington, DC: International Policy Network - Health Issues, 2009. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2012 at http://www.policynetwork.net/sites/default/files/keeping_it_real_2009.pdf Year: 2009 Country: International URL: http://www.policynetwork.net/sites/default/files/keeping_it_real_2009.pdf Shelf Number: 126131 Keywords: Counterfeit DrugsCounterfeit PharmaceuticalsMedicines |