13.

6 Member State mechanism on substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit

medical products

Statement:

Honorable Chair,
Distinguished Delegates,

The International Pharmaceutical Students Federation is the leading voice of pharmacy students and
recent graduates in over 81 different countries worldwide.
This statement is made on behalf of IPSF, supported by the Fight the Fakes campaign, a partner in our
mission to decrease patient exposure to falsified medications worldwide. As students, pharmacists, and
pharmaceutical scientists, this topic is important to us because we want our patients to receive
medications that are safe, effective, and legitimate. Patient exposure to falsified medication is a chronic
public health issue that results in delayed care, disease progression, increased mortality and antimicrobial
resistance. It also contributes to distrust of government, health care systems, and health care
professionals.
To combat this issue, we encourage increasing awareness to patients and stakeholders and elevating the
seriousness of participating in this criminal activity. We share the belief that coordination among all actors
is vital to tackle this public health risk and we invite other organizations to join in efforts to empower
people.
We encourage tighter control across all players involved in all steps of the supply chain for medicines
delivery. Online sales of medicines are an increasing problem as many unregulated online pharmacies sell
falsified medicines. Many countries work towards strengthening the supply chain with activities such as
track and trace to stop falsified medicines reaching patients. In addition, legal tools such as the
MEDICRIME Convention are working to protect patients from the threat of falsified medicines. Signed by
27 countries and ratified by 9 of them, it acknowledges that it is a criminal offense to produce and
distribute falsified medical products, and is enforceable at national and international levels.
As the leader on global health matters, the World Health Organization has an unparalleled role to play in
combating falsified medicines worldwide. We urge the WHO to take the necessary measures to efficiently
fight this global threat and protect public health.

References:
1. http://fightthefakes.org/resources/study-reveals-how-little-us-citizens-know-on-fake-medicines/
2. http://fightthefakes.org/updates/burkina-faso-signs-the-medicrime-convention/
3. https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugIntegrityandSupplyChainSecurity/DrugSupplyChainSecurityAct/ucm427033.htm