Counterfeit Drugs Market Value: $40 Billion
Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Drugs are sold as legitimate brand name medicines but have been created without the authority of the brand owner.
Sales of counterfeit drugs are estimated at $40 billion a year.
Source: Katie Merx, “Can you tell which pills are fake?,” Detroit Free Press, July 26, 2006, and Judy Alta, “Counterfeit Drugs Seen as Growing Problem,” [...]
31 percent of counterfeit drugs seized in EU originated from India
Source: IANS, “India main source of counterfeit medicines seized in Europe,” Malaysia Sun, June 1, 2007.
Estimated deaths from counterfeit drugs
Estimated deaths from counterfeit drugs vary from tens of thousands to more than 200,000.
Source: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “A growing epidemic of fake medications in Asia,” International Herald Tribune, February 20, 2007,(accessed: February 21, 2007).
25 percent of all drugs in developing countries are fake: WHO
Research conducted by the WHO found that 25 percent of all medicines in least developed countries are counterfeit.
Source: Julian Morris and Philip Stevens, ” Counterfeit medicines in less developed countries: Problems and solutions,”International Policy Network and the Campaign For Fighting [...]
50 percent of drugs sold on Internet believed to be fake
50 percent of pharmaceutical drugs sold over the Internet without a prescriptions are believed to be counterfeit.
Source: Reuters, “WHO to crack down on fake drugs,” MSNBC.com, November 15, 2006,(accessed: November 17, 2006).
$650 million counterfeit drugs market in Mexico
Source: Julian Morris and Philip Stevens, “Counterfeit medicines in less developed countries: Problems and solutions,”International Policy Network and the Campaign For Fighting Diseases, May 3, 2006,(accessed: January 8, 2007).
Counterfeit drugs comprise 3.5 to 12 percent of market in Russia
In Russia, counterfeit drugs comprise of 3.5 percent to 12 percent of the total pharmaceutical drug market. Some experts believe it to be as high as 20 percent in the year 2005.
Source: “Fake medications inundate the Russian pharmaceutical market”, Pravda, May 4, 2005,(date accessed: May 4, 2005).
$130 million market in fake drugs in Kenya
The market in fake drugs is estimated to be worth 130 Million US Dollars in Kenya.
Source: John Kariuki, “New counterfeit law proposes $20,000 fine for offenders”,East African, May 30, 2005,(last accessed: May 10, 2006).
Up to 30 percent of medicines sold in Africa are fake
Source: Phuong Tan, ” Counterfeit Drug Sales in Africa Strong, Threaten Public Health,” VOA News, October 19, 2007, (accessed: October 20, 2007).
Some drug products in China counterfeited at a rate of 50 to 85 percent
According to the International Policy Network, some products in China “have a counterfeit prevalence ranging between 50 and 85 percent.”
Source: Julian Morris and Philip Stevens, “Counterfeit medicines in less developed countries: Problems and solutions,”International Policy Network and the [...]
