Fake drugs have never been so prevalent, but we rarely hear about the true cost in lost and damaged lives. The news media usually fits fake drug stories into other pigeonholes: sex and health for erectile dysfunction drugs, foreign trade for counterfeits from India or China. When we get a personal angle to these stories it is usually from the white world.
The true cost of fake drugs is measured not by bedroom disappointment or boardroom dollars but by lives unlived. These tragedies are occurring mostly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, away from the Western media spotlight.
Malaria is a mostly-curable disease that disproportionately afflicts the young. Effective drugs exist but are widely counterfeited. How many children in developing countries die needlessly of malaria because the drugs that should save them are fake? No-one knows, but my bet is that if it was American kids that were dying then we would know more about it and something would have been done about it by now.
It's time for a global initiative to stamp out fake drugs. Yes, I know that various pilot programs are under way and data standards are under discussion and the supply chain is complex and blah blah blah. This problem is solvable. We should do it now.
Photo: ephotography from Flickr
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