Fake Drugs Are A Major Global Problem, WHO Reports
Fake, substandard and expired medications are sold everywhere, from Canadian websites to pharmacies in Niger. Controlling them, says the World Health Organization, will be no small feat.
Fake birth control pills. Cough syrup for children that contained a powerful opioid. Antimalarial pills that were actually just made of potato and cornstarch.
These are, according to the World Health Organization, just a few examples of poor-quality or fake medicines identified in recent years.
In a report released this week, WHO estimates that "1 in 10 medical products circulating in low- and middle-income countries is either substandard or falsified." That includes pills, vaccines and diagnostic kits.
"We have reports from all over the globe, from countries rich and poor, and reports on all types of products, both innovative or generic, expensive or not," says , who directs WHO's department of essential medicines and health products.
