November 8, 2007

Interpol Joins Counterfeit Med Fight in Africa

The international police organization Interpol has announced that it will work to combat the selling of fake tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS drugs in Africa (uk.news.yahoo.com/AFP, 11/6).

The agency will begin working to stop the illegal trade in Africa later this year, building on the success of its work fighting the problem in Latin America and Southeast Asia. “We have learned a lot of lessons in those regions and we are now able to apply those to Africa,” said John Newton, manager of Interpol’s intellectual property rights project.

Interpol will work with African police officers and train them to track and uncover counterfeit-medicine-smuggling networks. According to the World Health Organization, up to 30 percent of medications sold in Africa are fake.