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and counterfeiting. 79 is incentive is bolstered by the
historically low detection rate of counterfeit medicines as
a result of (1) poor police training on the matter; (2) the
myriad types of legitimate drugs and therapeutic devices
currently in existence; and (3) greater attention and ease of
conscation on counterfeit luxury goods such as handbags,
clothing, and shoes.
Evolution rough History
By 1985, WHO convened a Conference of Experts on the
Rational Use of Drugs in Nairobi, Kenya. e conference’s
outcomes included a recommendation to establish
an organization with responsibility for obtaining and
distributing data to governments regarding the nature and
amplitude of counterfeit drugs. 80 From 1997 to 2010, the
number of reports (mostly from law enforcement agencies,
medical sta, and local community activists) of counterfeit
drugs roughly quadrupled due to these early eorts. 81
e International Convention against Counterfeit Drugs,
created in Madrid, Spain in 2004, provided a framework
for promoting international cooperation and exchange
of information. 82 Two Global Forums on Pharmaceutical
Counterfeiting have been held, most recently in 2005,
involving representatives from pharmaceutical companies,
governments, medical and scientic communities, law
enforcement agencies, nongovernmental organizations,
and private investors, to discuss the growing problems in
the pharmaceutical industry. 83 Despite these signicant
advances in the global arena, much remains to be done on
a national and local scale to cut back on counterfeit drug
production and trade.
PRESENT RELEVANCE
Today, the World Bank estimates that between 1/3 and 1/2
of all sick people use the “parallel pharmaceutical market,”
or the system of traditional, home-based, or black market
treatment that lies outside the realm of modern medical
facilities. is parallel market is characterized by several
themes:
!" Contraband: clandestine importation to avoid
duties or circumvent legal controls;
!" Unauthorized sales: pharmaceutical wholesalers
illegally selling directly to clients rather than
chemists;
!" e and misappropriation: stolen
pharmaceuticals from hospitals and pharmacies
are then introduced to the international market;
and
!" Counterfeit products: produced locally or
imported. 84
ough getting counterfeit drugs at a pharmacy
is possible, it is extremely rare. More oen than not,
counterfeit drugs are bought over the internet; recently, the
FDA accused 294 websites of selling counterfeit drugs to
consumers—many of which looked, in packaging as well
as drug shape and size, exactly like the original. 85 Every
day, counterfeits are being seized around the world. Most
recently, pharmaceutical giant Pzer worked with law
enforcement ocers in a seizure of 8.3 million doses of
counterfeit pharmaceuticals, approximately 57% of which
was Viagra. 86
Typical sellers are poorly educated young males who picked
A collection of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs seized by
the NAFDAC in Nigeria. (PLoS Medicine vol. 4)
up the illicit sales as just another means of survival. ough
they remain loyal to one another and are thus able to avoid
capture, they rarely make signicant prots, usually because
they are charged steep prices at hospitals and pharmacies.
To get around the high front-fees, many turn to wholesalers
or individual traders to secure their stocks. 87 On the other
hand, traders and wholesalers—unlike vendors—oen
Harvard WorldMUN 2012 INTERPOL 18