EU partners Southeast Asia on falsified medicine campaign

A new social media campaign funded by the EU is aiming to raise awareness of falsified medicines in Southeast Asia with the hashtag #yourhealthispriceless.

The campaign – from the EU’s IP Key South-East Asia (SEA) programme – notes that “in the vast majority of cases (90 per cent), [counterfeit medicines] can be harmful to a patient’s health,” citing figures from the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

“#YourHealthIsPriceless campaign emphasises the EU mission…in raising awareness on IP rights on social media,” said Tiago Guerreiro, IP Key SEA Project Leader.

“We also believe that the stories shared will help envisage the current situation and encourage customers to be fully aware of the product’s authenticity and buy from legitimate sources.”

The EU is funding the campaign to the amount of €7m over four years.

The proliferation of counterfeit medicines in South-East Asia is a particularly serious concern, says the organisation.

A 2019 study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identifies a number of SEA countries, including Thailand, where counterfeit pharmaceutical and healthcare products originate from.

Thailand has also been identified as a significant transit point for fake medicines, and a country usually linked to counterfeiting or diversion of medicines alongside the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam during 2013-2017.

“The EU is supporting Thailand and ASEAN regional approach and initiatives for combatting substandard and falsified medicines,” commented Laurent Lourdais, counsellor at the delegation of the EU to Thailand.

“Harmonised pan-ASEAN safety and control measures allowing easier identification of counterfeit medicines, and improving verification and controls at borders, as well as a system enabling patients to identify legally operating online pharmacies, would certainly help limiting the commerce of these dangerous products,” he added.