Anti-Counterfeit Medicines Convention Foreseen In 2010

Governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations have been called on by a meeting of international leaders to “take full measure of the public health and public safety stakes linked to the scourge of counterfeit medication and to decide at the national level of the appropriate measures to be applied.” Stakeholders were invited to an as-yet unspecified global conference in Geneva in 2010 to establish the basis of an international convention against counterfeit medicines. The call did not explicitly define the term “counterfeit” but specified that quality generic drugs continue to be made widely available. There has been confusion about the definition of counterfeit drugs. (IPW, Public Health, 4 October 2009)

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for a collective action to fight fake medicines during the 12 October “Call of Cotonou” meeting in Benin, on the trafficking of counterfeit medicines, according to a UN press release.
The initiative was organised by the former French President Jacques Chirac’s foundation. The so-called Call of Cotonou states that, according to the WHO, in developing countries, one out of every four medicines is counterfeit.

The call is part of an international mobilisation campaign launched by the Fondation Chirac. One goal of the campaign is to create a new legal framework involving the health industry, law enforcement and customs officials. Campaign partners are largely industry-oriented.