UN drugs board offers counterfeits warning
The increasing circulation of counterfeit medicines may have fatal consequences for consumers, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), part of United Nations, has said in a report.
The increasing circulation of counterfeit medicines may have fatal consequences for consumers, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), part of United Nations, has said in a report.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 25-50% of medicines consumed in developing countries are believed to be counterfeit.
Consumers need to realise that medication bought on an unregulated market may have lethal effects, INCB Philip Efamo said. Illegal sales on the internet are one factor worsening the situation.
The board also voiced its concerns that prescription drug abuse is set to exceed illicit drug abuse. The number of deaths related to prescription drug abuse was on the rise, the report said.
An emerging trend is the abuse of anorectics, prescribed as treatment against obesity, nacrolepsy and attention deficit disorder. An alarming number of people, the report notes, have begun to abuse them in the hope of losing weight despite potentially fatal consequences.