Fake Drugs Kill 150,000 Children Worldwide

A recent report has drawn global attention to how fake drugs kill children worldwide.

The report published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene linked the death of over 150,000 children yearly to substandard drugs for treating malaria, pneumonia and other diseases.

A senior scientific adviser emeritus at the Fogarty International Centre of the United States (U.S.) National Institutes of Health, Dr. Joel Breman who carried out the analysis also noted that 10 per cent of all medicines sold in developing countries are substandard.

“We are talking about 300,000 at least children who have died because of murder-by-alleged-medicines distributed by criminals.

“Our focus was initially and is still on the poor countries because they have no control and a high burden of disease.

“One of two primary areas of concern in these countries is anti-malarial drugs, which may be responsible for the death of more than 150,000 children each year,” he said.

“The impact of falsified and substandard drugs is estimated to be as high as 10 per cent of all medicines, costing up to $200 billion in low- and middle-income countries.”

Meanwhile, The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined three types of falsified and substandard medical products.

“Falsified medical products” deliberately misrepresent their identity, composition or source.

“Substandard medical products” are regulated drugs that somehow fail to meet quality standards or specifications — for example, they have less than needed amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

“Unregistered or unlicensed medical products” are untested and unapproved drugs.

The international Organization’s in its World Malaria Report 2018 also revealed that over half the world’s population is at risk from malaria, with almost half a million deaths in 2017, with progress around the world uneven.