Organised crime gangs and suppliers of fake medicines are making €35 billion a year out of the illicit trade, it was revealed today. Amid calls for stricter customs controls, a conference in Dublin heard up to 10 per cent of prescription drugs on the market are counterfeit.
Stephen McMahon, Irish Patients' Association
And the Irish Patients' Association said the Government needed to take urgent action to clamp down on the illicit and potentially deadly trade.
The IPA said while it was easy to put a price on the cost to business the human cost is priceless. Stephen McMahon, chairman of the Irish Patients' Association, said there is a significant danger to public health and safety.
"Ireland has benefited greatly from the presence of the pharmaceutical industry and as a result the impact of counterfeit medicines on the Irish economy is substantial," he said. "We need to ensure co-operation between government, the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare professionals, An Garda Siochana, customs, distributors, patients' organisations and also the public.
"Ultimately, we want to stamp out the illicit medicines trade which is both illegal and deadly." The conference Action Against Counterfeit Medicine heard that although the true extent of counterfeit medicines is unknown in Ireland, in recent years five cases of fake drugs have been found in UK high street pharmacies being dispensed to patients.
Estimates from the World Health Organisation suggest 8-10% of the global medicine supply chain is counterfeit and it rises to as much as 25% in some countries, with the trade worth 35bn euro a year.
The conference heard counterfeit medicines are imported into Europe through complex distribution networks including trans-shipment, through third countries to launder the product.