UNITED KINGDOM, April 5, 2002: Alarming research published recently in the British Medical Journal has revealed that a significant number of medical drugs sold in south-east Asia are counterfeit. Scientists have found that drugs used to treat malaria are fake, that a vaccine to prevent meningitis was made from tap water and that birth control pills were made of wheat flour. Imitating what legitimate drug manufacturers use for packaging such as a blister-pack design and holograms, fake drug production is suspected to be linked with organized crime. According to this article, the World Health Organization estimates that one in 10 pharmaceutical drugs sold around the world are counterfeit. In Cambodia alone, 60% of anti-malaria drugs are fake and five other SE Asian countries estimate that 38% of anti-malaria drugs used are ineffective. Dr. Paul Newton of Oxford University, who led the team conducting the research published in the BMJ says, “One third of all the anti-malarial drugs artesunate that we bought in south-east Asia was fake, containing none of the drug it was supposed to contain.” Lambert Rago of the WHO further adds, “Counterfeit drugs kill people. There are a lot of case reports where vaccines do not contain anything and you just don’t vaccinate people at all.” The BMJ goes on to say that, “Drug companies have tended to avoid publicizing the problem for fear of damaging public confidence in medicines.”
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