Benin Jails 7 Pharma Executives In 'Fake Drugs’ Trial; Fake Medicines Flourish In Africa Despite Killing Thousands

Governments in West Africa have vowed to crack down on fake medicines — a trade that weakens the effectiveness of antibiotics and malaria drugs

A court in Benin on Tuesday jailed seven local pharmaceutical executives for four years on charges of selling illicit medicines after a trial that breaks new ground in West Africa's campaign against fake drugs.

The WHO estimates that one out of 10 medicines in the world is fake but the figure can be as high as seven out of 10 in certain countries, especially in Africa. 

AFP report continues:

The seven were convicted of "the sale of falsified medicines, display, possession with a view to selling, commercialization or sale of falsified medical substances."

They work for wholesale pharmaceutical distribution companies, five of which — GAPOB, Ubipharm, CAME, Ubephar and Promo Pharma — dominate the sector in Benin.

They were also fined 100 million CFA francs (US$190,000, €150,000), a lawyer for civil plaintiffs told AFP after the trial, describing the sum as "token."

Two other defendants were given six-month terms. They were aides to an opposition MP, Atao Hinnouho, who has fled.

A 10th defendant, the head of the Directorate for Pharmacies, Medications and Diagnostic Evaluation (DPMED) under the control of the ministry of health, was released. He had been accused of failing to prevent the drugs from being sold.

Benin is fighting against its reputation for being the crossroads for trafficking in expired and counterfeit drugs in West Africa — a business that has deeply alarmed health watchdogs.

President Patrice Talon, elected in 2016, has vowed to crack down on the practice.

Over the past year, dozens of people have been arrested and tonnes of fake medications seized.

A 15-nation regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has also announced an investigation into the business.

Fake medicines are drugs that are bogus or below regulatory standards but often are outwardly indistinguishable from the genuine product.

Taking them may do nothing to tackle an illness or — in the case of antibiotics — worsen the problem of microbial resistance.

In 2015, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor-quality antimalarial drugs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fake Medicines Flourish In Africa Despite Killing Thousands   

There's nothing covert about Roxy — a huge market in Abidjan selling counterfeit medicine, the scourge of Africa and the cause of around 100,000 deaths annually on the world's poorest continent.

Located in the bustling Adjame quarter of Côte d'Ivoire's main city and commercial hub, the haven for fake medicine has been targeted time and again by authorities and stockpiles burnt.

But it resurfaces every time.

"The police hassle us but they themselves buy these medicines," said Mariam, one of the many mainly illiterate vendors who hawk everything from painkillers and antibiotics to anti-malaria and anti-retroviral treatments.

"When we are harassed we always come to an arrangement with them to resume our activities," she said.

Fatima, another hawker, said: "Many people come here with their prescriptions to buy medicine, even the owners of private clinics."

She said there was a "syndicate" controlling the sector that held regular meetings to fix prices and supply levels.

Fake medicines bring about some 100,000 deaths a year in the continent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The illicit sector has a turnover of at least 10% of the world pharmaceutical business, meaning that it earns tens of billions of dollars a year, the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum estimates, adding that the figure has nearly tripled in five years.

"To sell fake medicines, you need a clientele. The ailing poor are more numerous in Africa than anywhere in the world," said Marc Gentilini, an expert on infectious and tropical diseases and a former head of the French Red Cross.

- Double-edged crime –

Gentilini said some meningitis vaccines sent a few years ago after an outbreak in arid Niger were fake. The disease kills thousands every year in the arid west African nation.
The WHO estimates that one out of 10 medicines in the world is fake but the figure can be as high as seven out of 10 in certain countries, especially in Africa.

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated in 2015 that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor-quality antimalarials in sub-Saharan Africa, which, along with antibiotics as the two most in-demand, are the medicines most likely to be out-of-date or bad copies.

Interpol in August announced the seizure of 420 tonnes of counterfeit medicine in West Africa in a massive operation that involved about 1,000 police, customs and health officials in seven countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

Geoffroy Bessaud, the head of anti-counterfeit coordination at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, said fake medicines were the biggest illicit business in the world.
"This phenomenon is spreading: its financial attractiveness draws criminal organizations of all sizes," he said.

"An investment of US$1,000 can bring returns of up to US$500,000 while for the same kind of investment in the heroin trade or in counterfeit money the amount will be around US$20,000."

Ivorian authorities in May burnt 40 tonnes of fake medicines in Adjame, the biggest street market for fake medicines in West Africa which accounts for 30% of medicine sales in Côte d'Ivoire.

- Offenders go unpunished –

Offenders remain largely unpunished worldwide and are mainly targeted for breaching intellectual property rights instead of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the Paris-based International Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicine says.

Experts have called for a global fight against the scourge. Sanofi said it had in 2016 helped dismantle 27 clandestine laboratories, including 22 in China and the rest in Indonesia, Ukraine and Poland.

In countries where medical expenses — from drugs to hospitalization — are not even partly reimbursed by the state, the relatively cheap price of street medication trumps the risk factor for many.

The outstanding exception on the continent in fighting the illicit drug trade is South Africa, which has a strictly-enforced licencing system.