Africa / Ecowas: Synergy of action is needed to combat drug trafficking
The issue of trafficking in medical products is not a new one. Although much has been written about it in the past, the new ECOWAS report and the data it contains highlight the urgency of the situation. Efforts are being made, however, and the national, regional and even continental initiatives that have been put in place to combat the phenomenon to date have shown their limitations.
The sale of counterfeit medicines in West Africa is worth around one billion US dollars, more than the value of crude oil and cocaine trafficking combined. These are the findings of a new ECOWAS report published in August 2023.
According to the document, entitled «Illicit trafficking of medical products in West Africa» illicit medical products currently account for between 20% and 60% of the official market for the region as a whole. In countries such as Guinea and Burkina Faso, this percentage rises to 80%.
The most common illicit medical products in the region are anti-malarial drugs, and this can be explained by the dynamics of supply and demand. Indeed, for a disease such as malaria, the rate in West Africa is the highest on the continent, with the result that 48% of the market for anti-malarial drugs comes from illicit sources. Other common products include antibiotics and antiretrovirals (HIV/AIDS). India and China are believed to be the main countries of origin of both licit and illicit medical products found in West Africa. Burkina Faso and Guinea have been identified as trafficking hubs.
In any case, with all the dissuasive communications about illicit medicines, if people continue to demand them, governments need to change their tune. Instead of launching a race against distributors, as they are wont to do, governments need to think about providing health insurance for all citizens, so that they are no longer tempted to buy counterfeit medicines because they have no means to do so, and to put in place a genuine policy of subsidising certain pharmaceutical products, especially anti-malarial drugs, in order to save lives.
Ammah AVINOU
