Counterfeit clippings: global news round-up

SecuringPharma.com's round-up of pharmaceutical supply chain security news from the world's press features reports from Ukraine, Kenya, Lebanon, Indonesia and the East African Community block.

Around 2.5 million packages of substandard, counterfeit and unregistered medicines worth $2.5m were sold in Ukraine in 2010, according to an article on the petosevic.com website, citing the country's State Inspectorate for the Quality Control of Medicines. The counterfeits consisted mainly of antibiotics and hormonal drugs, around half of which were obtained via the Internet.

One in 10 medicines sold in Kenya are fake, with drugs for high blood pressure and diabetes among those most targeted by counterfeiters, claims an article in the Daily Nation newspaper. Additionally, around 30 per cent of drugs on the market are unregistered, it says, citing comments from James Owuor, deputy director, Inspectorate and Surveillance at the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

In Lebanon, Internal Security Forces have shut down a counterfeit medicine manufacturing unit in Bekaa, near Beirut. Two men were arrested and 200 boxes of expired medicine were confiscated, along with 600 bottles of chemicals used in drug manufacturing, says a report in Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper.

Research carried out by the Institute for Economic and Social Research in Indonesia indicates that 3.5 per cent of people questioned in a survey indicated they would knowingly buy counterfeit medicinal products, according to a report on the Tempo Interactive website. The researchers have estimated that counterfeit goods across all sectors - non-alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, leather goods, clothing, pesticide, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, automotive and engine lubricants, software, office and electronic appliances, lighting equipment and auto components - cost Indonesia 43.2 trillion rupiah ($4.8bn) a year.

The East African Community is pushing for common laws to check counterfeit drugs in the region, according to Business Daily article. EAC Permanent Secretary David Nalo said that the EAC countries need to work together on "international quality control benchmarks, intellectual property rights, veterinary and public health standards" in order to tackle the menace. HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases are some of the diseases worst hit by the counterfeit medicines trade, he said at the last EAC meeting in October.