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Home > News > Penalising the trafficking of fake medicines in Africa presented at the Anti-Counterfeiting World Law Summit

Published on 18 October 2023 / Public Health

Penalising the trafficking of fake medicines in Africa presented at the Anti-Counterfeiting World Law Summit

The 3rd Anti-Counterfeiting World Law Summit  was held in London on 18 October 2023. In keeping with tradition, it brought together the key players in the fight against counterfeiting to share best practice and successful enforcement strategies. The Brazzaville Foundation, represented by its Chief Executive Richard Amalvy, was invited to present its work on the fight against substandard and falsified medical products (SFMP).

From left to right: Guillaume Doane, Consulting Director, 35°Nord, Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of the Brazzaville Foundation, Iain McLeod, Head of Brand Protection and Anti-Counterfeiting, Diageo, Vincent Helluy, Head of Illicit Trade Risk Management - Content and Brand Protection, Forward Global, Alexandra Willis, Consultant, Forward Global..

The one-day Anti-Counterfeiting World Law Summit brings together the world's leading anti-counterfeiting lawyers with policy-makers, government agencies, law enforcement agencies and technology innovators to address the most pressing issues surrounding counterfeiting from an economic, commercial and security perspective. Examples of field operations in the field of content and brand protection demonstrated the diversity of means of combating counterfeiting, including strategies complementary to legal proceedings. This year, a special session was dedicated to the fight against intellectual property infringement in Africa.

 

It was against this backdrop that Richard Amalvy explained the work carried out, in particular with legal and regulatory experts from UNODC, WHO, the African Union, Interpol and the Council of Europe, to add a penal dimension to the model pharmaceutical law promoted by AUDA NEPAD. Indeed, the penal response of African states, and theharmonisation of legislation at continental level, is an essential prerequisite for reducing the trafficking of SFMP which feeds criminal and terrorist gangs. It is also a prerequisite for improving access to quality medicines at affordable prices for African patients. This is the ambition of the future African Medicines Agency. The Brazzaville Foundation's CEO also presented the expected results of the pilot project currently underway in Togo which aims to model the method used to draw up national plans to combat SFMP. This method, successfully tested during the third quarter of 2023 in Togo, is based on an inter-ministerial approach that fosters dialogue between political decision-makers, legal experts and planners from the various ministerial departments.

 

A series of international seminars begins in November in Abidjan, and will continue in Brazzaville, Dakar and Lomé. The modeling results will be presented in June 2024.