Global Pandemic of Fake Drugs May Cause the Rise of Disease

It's a major problem that's quickly becoming global: fake medicines. The threat of poor quality drugs that are being distributed in place of real medication is on the rise, and may undermine decades of successful efforts to combat disease.

A group of editors of a collection of journal articles have come together to point out this growing problem. Scientists have reported that up to 41 percent of drugs failed to meet quality standards in global studies of about 17,000 drug samples. In addition, one study has found that there were falsified and substandard malaria drugs that caused an estimated 122,350 deaths in African children in 2013. Other studies have identified poor quality antibiotics.

"This problem continues to spread globally, creating an even greater challenge to cooperation among stakeholders, many with limited resources," said Joel Breman, the supplement's co-editor, in a news release. "The need is urgent for collaboration among those with expertise in policy, science, technology, surveillance, epidemiology and logistics, in order to secure global supply chains."

Scientists actually inspected the quality of 16,800 sample of anti-malarials, anti-tuberculosis medicines, antibiotics and anti-leishmaniasis drugs. A total of 9 to 41 percent failed to meet specifications.

"The pandemic of falsified and substandard medicines is pervasive and underestimated, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where drug regulatory systems are weak or non-existent, as shown by field studies in the supplement," said Jim Herrington, co-editor of the supplement.

The findings reveal that action is needed to help curtail the rise of falsified drugs. This is especially important for combating disease.

The findings are published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

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