The Group of Eight (G8) countries – the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Canada and Russia -met last year to discuss matters with political and economic significance. Notably, at that meeting, the G8 recognized counterfeit medicines as a global threat to public health and agreed about the need for information exchange among themselves.
Specifically, as noted in the report, G8 countries agreed “to protect public health and consumer safety, by exchanging information on rogue Internet pharmacy sites in accordance with national law and share best practices on combating counterfeit medical products.”
Recently, CSIP partner, Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) and Ex-Officio Member, Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP), created an infograph, which visually depicts the key information shared by each country about rogue online pharmacies, as noted in the G8 report. Some of the details highlighted include:
- United States: 350 doctors received warnings concerning their business dealings with foreign suppliers of counterfeit drugs, reports the FDA.
- United Kingdom: 70,000 fake prescription drugs were discovered in the secure supply chain in the United Kingdom, and 30,000 doses remain unaccounted for.
- France: The country confiscated 1.2 million doses of fake aspirin hidden in tea last year.
- Germany: More than 100 outlets offering illegally imported counterfeit cancer drugs in 2010 were based in Germany.
- Russia: A network called Glavmed is known for posing as legitimate online drug stores and is one of the top-three sources of online antivirus scams.
While the G8 is collaborating in the global fight against counterfeit drugs, CSIP and its member companies are also taking a lead in the fight against illicit online pharmacies by educating consumers on how to identify fake medicines and by encouraging them to report incidents of counterfeiting.
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The Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP) and our 13 member companies have the shared goal of helping address the growing problem of consumer access to illegitimate pharmaceutical products on the Internet. Continue to read this blog for updates on CSIP’s education, enforcement and information-sharing efforts.