Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Counterfeit medicines in Cambodia: judging a tablet by its packaging?

Pailin (Cambodia). 06/03/2002: Woman selling Arteminisin, a drug used in the treatment of malaria, in a non-monitored drug store. ©John Vink/ Magnum

Ka-set

By Corinne Callebaut
23-02-2009

Obsolete statistics and a wall of silence noticed by most of the national protagonists working in that particular field... In Cambodia, the fight against fake medicines is still a taboo and a very sensitive topic. However, there is no denying that the country keeps suffering as a result of counterfeit or very poor quality pharmaceuticals, of which the population remains the first victim. In order to counter that silent epidemic, which mainly concerns antibiotics and anti-malaria drugs, a team in charge of combating fake medicines has been set up within the Ministry of Health and currently benefits from the support of important private external backers. Unfortunately, it looks like a cure has yet to be found in Cambodia to put the pharmaceutical network back on its feet.

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