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Fake medicines claim at least 200,000 lives every year, with the World Health Organization estimating that 1 in 10 medicines worldwide is now substandard or falsified. But with the market in illicit drugs worth up to $200 billion a year, and traffickers more likely to face a fine than jail time when they are caught, the financial incentives far outweigh the deterrents. So how do we put a stop to this deadly trade? Drug Safety Matters investigates with former Interpol officer and PMEDS program founder Aline Plançon.

Tune in to find out:

• How widespread and dangerous fake medicines are
• What makes pharmaceutical crime so successful
• What action is being taken to curb the problem
• How modern tracking technology can help
• What we can do to raise awareness

Want to know more?

• Read Aline Plançon’s book on fake medicines, Faux Médicaments: Un Crime Silencieux (in French).
• Find out how the World Health Organization is fighting falsified and substandard medicines in UMC’s magazine Uppsala Reports.
• Teach your children about falsified medicines with UMC’s comic book Annie & Mac’s Adventures: Lord Fake Strikes Again. It’s available in English and Spanish.
• Help raise awareness of the problem by joining the Fight the Fakes campaign.

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About UMC
Uppsala Monitoring Centre promotes safer use of medicines and vaccines for everyone everywhere. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky.