Criminals make billions of dollars selling dangerous counterfeit drugs to consumers, often duplicating the exact packaging, look, and taste of the real drugs. Drug counterfeiting is a significant public health threat and it is rapidly increasing, with dozens of new cases being reported throughout the world every day.

For too long we have underestimated the phenomenon of drug counterfeiting which, from small, marginal beginnings is now a major concern. Below is a sampling of some startling facts about the global counterfeit drug problem:

• According to official World Health Organization (WHO), drug counterfeiting over $75 billion globally.
• The International Policy Network estimates that 700,000 people die per year because of counterfeit malaria and tuberculosis medicines alone (the equivalent of “four fully laden jumbo jets crashing everyday”.)
• In some parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, more than 30% of the medicines on sale can be fake, according to a WHO report.
• The detection of fakes has become more difficult over the years. Some counterfeiters have gone as far as adding active ingredients so the drugs pass quality test controls. However, according to a Lancet report, the drugs still don’t provide any benefit to the user.

A recently released resource by The Partnership for Safe Medicines dubbed as a“Required Reading List for Policy Makers on Counterfeit Drugs” provides additional data about the global counterfeit drug problem and law enforcement efforts. In reviewing the data, it is alarming to see how big the counterfeit drug problem really is, but at the same time, it’s encouraging to see the successes of law enforcement agencies in seizures of drugs and convictions of criminals. We at CSIP, our members, and our partners are doing our part to offer educational resources for consumers and will continue in our efforts to raise public awareness about counterfeit drugs.

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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.