USP, USAID screen fake drug warnings in Cambodia

Phil Taylor, 09-Oct-2009

A campaign of public service announcements has been launched in Cambodia and the Greater Mekong region in a bid to tackle the 'serious public health threat' posed by counterfeit medicines.

The 'Pharmacide' videos have been prepared with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and will be broadcast nationally on Cambodian television and throughout Southeast Asia.

The films have been translated into five languages and show the life cycle of a counterfeit drug from the counterfeiter to the dealer to the victim. They urge citizens always to use a licensed pharmacy when purchasing medicines.

The proliferation of substandard and counterfeit medicines intended to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other life-threatening conditions remains a major threat to the lives and livelihood of citizens struggling with these diseases, said USAID and USP in a statement.

“Counterfeit and substandard medicines pose a grave threat to patients in Southeast Asia, but their presence in these countries remains a largely unknown problem,” said Flynn Fuller, USAID Cambodia Mission director.

“These poor-quality medicines can contribute to adverse reactions in patients, including protracted illness and death, but may go undetected as severe symptoms and death may be wrongly attributed to the course of their disease."

The following video shows presentations at the launch event for the PSAs on October 8.