The Dangers of Counterfeit Drugs (First of Two Parts)

Medicines that are not what they seem are a widespread problem in developing countries. They are a dangerous and sometimes deadly trick for a quick profit. Transcript of radio broadcast:

22 February 2010

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Possible counterfeitsCounterfeit medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredients of the real thing.

People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases the counterfeits cause tragic problems of their own.

About a year ago, more than eighty children in Nigeria died after being given medicine for teething pain. And more than twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen. In both cases, the medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing.

But the medicine in Bangladesh was produced by a local drug manufacturer that used a dangerous substitute to save money. And in the case in Nigeria, an illegal chemical dealer sold counterfeit glycerin to a drug company. That company then used the chemical to make the teething medicine.

The World Health Organization says the problem with counterfeit medicines is especially bad in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The W.H.O. estimates that up to thirty percent of the medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeit.