African countries unite for drug anti-counterfeiting initiative

The first ladies of four African countries have agreed to cooperate on training programmes, laws and other actions to prevent use of counterfeit drugs.

Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mali and Niger have come together for the project which revolves around three primary goals, the first of which is education, reports the International Institute of Research against Counterfeit Medicines (IRACM). The information campaign will target mothers, who are often the buyers of a family’s medicine. If these women can spot fakes, sales of counterfeits will slow.

The collaborators also want to stop counterfeit drugs ever reaching the point of sale. A training programme for police and customs officers is planned to give the authorities the knowledge and tools they need to stop traffickers of counterfeit medicines.

Finally, the initiative aims to ensure legislation is in place to support these officials. The collaborators want to set up a legal framework in areas that currently lack anti-counterfeiting regulations, and also apply existing laws more forcefully. 


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