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 Russia, the USA, the Philippines, Thailand and Nigeria.

In Russia, Interpol has begun a large-scale operation to tackle the counterfeit medicines trade, according to a report from the Itar-Tass news agency, which says the operation will be expanded to include 25 countries. The article cites local Interpol chief Timur Lakhonin as saying that the agency has identified 1,200 websites selling fake medicines which are now being seized.

Federal agents seized $21m-worth of counterfeit goods, including medicines, at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in the USA earlier this month as part of a major clampdown on imports of illegal products by the US Customs and Border Patrol. An article on Cincinnati.com says most of the counterfeits originated from China and were seized as they passed through a hub operated by shipping company DHL.

Eleven call centre workers in the Philippines have been charged with selling medicines without a prescription, according to a report in the Manila Standard. Employees at Bluestream Information Technology Services are charged with illegally selling erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra (sildenafil) and Cialis (tadalafil) and painkillers such as tramadol. At present it is not known whether the medicines were genuine or fake.

Nine government agencies in Thailand have joined forces to implement a major crackdown on medicines counterfeiting, according to a report in The Nation newspaper. Last year Thailand seized 145,000 fake medicines worth an estimated 58m baht ($1.9m), said Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot. The crackdown aims to suppress the trade in counterfeits and shut down production plants, he added.

Meanwhile, the Thai authorities seized more than 200 varieties of counterfeit and illegally imported medical products worth around 100 million baht after a raid on four premises operated by a medicines supplier based in the Din Daeng district of Bangkok, reports the Bangkok Post.

The state of Edo in Nigeria is putting additional resources into an aid programme which supplies essential drugs at a subsidised rate to government-run hospitals, according to Minister of Health Dr. Peter Ugbodaga. The Essential Drug Project (EDP) is designed to improve access to genuine medicines and discourage the circulation of counterfeits, according to an article in the Nigerian Observer. The scheme includes free antimalarial treatment for pregnant women and children under the age of five.


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