With the frenetic global search for a cure for COVID-19 having reached a fever pitch, recent seizures of fake drugs in various countries have included considerable quantities of drugs that are being touted as protection against the virus.
A report published earlier this week in the Turkish press cites both the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as cautioning that the spike in the circulation of fake drugs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic underscores the need to address a growing international trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals which not only costs consumers billions but can, in many instances, place lives at further risk rather than save them. The joint EU/OECD report on which this information is based was published in April this year.
Global authorities have long been fighting an uphill and less-than-successful battle against the proliferation of fake or defective drugs in what has become a multi-billion dollar industry and which the Turkish press report on the study says “enriches criminal groups and endangers health while draining away vital industry and tax revenues.” OECD Secretary General José Ángel Gurría Treviño says that “the discovery of fake medical supplies related to coronavirus just as the world pulls together to fight this pandemic makes this global challenge all the more acute and urgent.”
With there being no known cure for a pandemic that has sent tremors through the international community, it is not surprising that counterfeiters have targeted the virus for what could be a lucrative fake cure. The OECD/EU report estimates that such a ‘cure’ could add more millions to a counterfeit pharmaceuticals trade that was already worth upwards US$4.3 billion four years ago.
While no information is provided on countries that provide the likeliest markets for the COVID-19 fake drugs, it is likely that significant quantities will end up in poor countries where a lack of awareness of fake drugs and low levels of education on public health issues render populations vulnerable to drugs touted as cures for COVID-19.
The vast majority contain incorrect proportions of active ingredients, while some of them, none at all, which in effect means that they are unlikely to work. Others, according to the report, contain undeclared substances that can pose serious health risks. Forensic tests of suspect samples show that in 90% of cases, counterfeit medicines can harm patients.
In the same week the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Operation Pangea, Interpol’s global pharmaceutical crime fighting unit, reportedly made 121 arrests across 90 countries in just seven days, resulting in the seizure of dangerous pharmaceuticals worth over US$14 million. In some poor countries in Asia and Africa, police reportedly confiscated huge quantities of counterfeit face masks and fake medicines, many of the latter being touted as cures for the coronavirus.
