CONGO DEMOCRATIC-FAKE DRUGS Congolese authorities to crackdown on trade of counterfeit medicine
Record ID:
141788
CONGO DEMOCRATIC-FAKE DRUGS Congolese authorities to crackdown on trade of counterfeit medicine
- Title: CONGO DEMOCRATIC-FAKE DRUGS Congolese authorities to crackdown on trade of counterfeit medicine
- Date: 7th September 2015
- Summary: BUKAVU, DRC (RECENT) (REUTERS) STREET SCENES VARIOUS OF PHARMACY, MEDICATION ON SALE PATRICK CIZUNGU, PROVINCIAL HEALTH INSPECTOR LOOKING AT MEDICATION INSIDE PHARMACY (SOUNDBITE) (French) PATRICK CIZUNGU, PROVINCIAL HEALTH INSPECTOR SAYING: "South Kivu faces many challenges, because the province shares a long border with neighbouring countries, which means that regulators and medical control service staff such as myself have difficulty to control the transport of counterfeit drugs through the border, because like I said the border is long and porous. The fake medication that we often find here often comes from neighbouring countries, and they are then sold throughout the province." EXTERIOR OF PHARMACY VARIOUS OF MEDICATION ON SALE CUSTOMER BUYING MEDICATION MEDICATION (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) FRANK IRENGE, BUKAVU RESIDENT SAYING: "Sometimes when we buy medication, instead of healing our children, it makes them weaker and causes their symptoms to worsen. When you go to the doctor and he asks you where you bought the medication, that's when you find out that the medication you bought in certain pharmacies is the reason people get even more sick." STREET SCENE STREET VENDORS WITH MEDICATION THEY ARE SELLING LAID OUT ON THE GROUND WOMAN BUYING MEDICATION MEDICATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) MWANZA NANGUNIA, PROVINCIAL HEALTH MINISTER SAYING: "It's true, there is a strong presence of fake medication in the country, as well as in other countries. Everyone knows that here in Congo as well in other African countries. In order to put an end to all of that in our province, we plan to introduce a national center where the general public can go and buy medication, so that we can be able to control all the medication that is on sale and to monitor where it comes from as well as the quality." VARIOUS STREET VENDORS SELLING BREAD AND FRUITS
- Embargoed: 22nd September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8ZCLM1QUEWB0SOC6DFHECQLXL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: ====AUDIO AS INCOMING=====
In Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo like in many other parts of Africa, the trade in drugs that are either fake, sold without a prescription or administered by an unqualified person is growing.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 10 percent of prescription drugs available in pharmacies and hospitals around the world are fake.
In Africa, anywhere between 30 and 50 percent of prescribed drugs are fake, undermining the treatment of many diseases such as malaria - one of the biggest killers of children in the world, claiming the life of one child every minute - the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Congo authorities say the problem is made worse in the vast and unstable east where frequent conflicts have displaced hundreds of thousands and destabilized the region's economy.
"South Kivu faces many challenges, because the province shares a long border with neighbouring countries, which means that regulators and medical control service staff such as myself have difficulty to control the transport of counterfeit drugs through the border, because like I said the border is long and porous. The fake medication that we often find here often comes from neighbouring countries, and they are then sold throughout the province," said Patrick Cizungu, South Kivu health inspector.
A recent study by global health scientists showed that low-quality and fake anti-malarial drugs flooding markets in Asia and Africa are driving resistance and threatening gains made against the disease in the last decade.
The study found around 36 percent of anti-malarial drugs analysed in southeast Asia were fake, while a third of samples in sub-Saharan Africa failed chemical testing because they contained either too much or not enough active ingredients.
Here in Bukavu, street traders regularly diagnose illnesses and prescribe drugs to their customers, who are looking to cut out the doctor's consultancy fees.
The medicine ends up either not working or causing further harm to patients.
"Sometimes when we buy medication, instead of healing our children, it makes them weaker and causes their symptoms to worsen. When you go to the doctor and he asks you where you bought the medication, that's when you find out that the medication you bought in certain pharmacies is the reason people get even more sick," said Bukavu resident Frank Irenge.
While statistics are hard to come by here, health workers estimate that more than 80 percent of medication sold in Congo in 2014 was expired.
It will take a massive effort, involving various sectors to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs into the country, but authorities say they hope to put in place a regulatory body that will monitor imported medicine as well as drugs sold in the country.
"It's true, there is a strong presence of fake medication in the country, as well as in other countries. Everyone knows that here in Congo as well in other African countries. In order to put an end to all of that in our province, we plan to introduce a national center where the general public can go and buy medication, so that we can be able to control all the medication that is on sale and to monitor where it comes from as well as the quality," said Mwaza Nangunia, South Kivu provincial health minister.
According to the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), most of the fake substandard medicines in Africa come from India and China, but some are made locally where the industry is seriously unregulated.
But despite the devastating effects of fake drugs, the crime is not taken as seriously as other forms of smuggling. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None