Media Reports on Medicines Quality - US Pharmacopeial Convention

Equatorial
Guinea
Antimalarials
(artesunate)
Ghana Toothpaste
Antimalarials
(Coartem)
passed through Syria before arriving in Egypt.
The Ministry of Health and Population estimates that 10% of
pharmaceutical products sold in the country are counterfeit.
The General Administration of the Pharmaceuticals Inspection
Department (GAPID), affiliated with the Ministry of Health,
recorded 807 police reports in 2009 against entities accused of
producing, distributing, or selling counterfeit medicines; 780
reports have been recorded so far in 2010. In 2009, 75 entities
were shut down, and to date in 2010, 100 have been closed.
A report in Al-Gomhuriya, an Arabic language daily newspaper,
stated that there are an estimated EGP 1 billion (USD $168
million) in fake medicines on the Egyptian market. That figure
is expected to rise by 10% this year.
Artesunat® 50mg tablets purchased in Equatorial Guinea and
labeled as being manufactured by Mekophar, Vietnam were
tested by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Laboratory tests revealed that the tablets contained no active
pharmaceutical ingredient.
Two containers of counterfeit “Close Up” toothpaste were
destroyed by the Anti Illicit Trade Coalition at Kpone Landfill.
The toothpaste was imported from China.
The Kumasi zonal office of the FDB announced that counterfeit
antimalarials – Coartem with batch nos. X0089 and M1200 –
were found in the market. The drugs were found to contain no
active ingredient.
The fake Coartem was found when a private citizen brought a
suspicious sample to the attention of the Medicine Quality
Monitoring program, implemented by the U.S. Pharmacopeia
Drug Quality and Information Program and financially
supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The Ministry of Health and Population targets
counterfeit drugs in pharmacies. Egypt Today.
June 15, 2009. Available at:
www.egypttoday.com Accessed: June 15, 2009
Ghazala, A. Not what the doctor ordered. Jul 19,
2010. Al-Ahram Weekly. Available at:
www.weekly.ahram.org.eg Accessed Jul 19, 2010
Mohamed, T. Criminals in Egypt make killing
from fake drugs. The Egypt Gazette. June 23,
2011. Available at:
http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/
Accessed June 23, 2011
Chaccour, C., et al. Travel and fake artesunate: a
risky business. Lancet 2012; 380:1120. Sep 22,
2012. Available at: www.thelancet.com
Counterfeit toothpaste destroyed. My Joy Online.
June 18, 2009. Available at:
www.myjoyonline.com Accessed June 18, 2009
Food and Drugs Board detects fake anti-malaria
drug. Ghana News Agency. July 9, 2009.
Available at: www.ghananewsagency.org
Accessed July 9, 2009
Counterfeit antimalarial drug discovered in Ghana
with aid of USP Drug Quality and Information
Program. U.S. Pharmacopeia press release. July
22, 2009. Available at: www.usp.org
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