Examples of pharmacists involvement at national levels
As the ultimate member of the pharmaceutical distribution chain, pharmacists are key players in detecting and dealing with counterfeit medicines. Moreover, through their every day interaction with patients and the general public, they are a valuable relay for communication campaigns to patients to raise awareness on the risks of counterfeit medicines.
Below you will find below a selection of activities and tools developed by pharmacists’ organisations to educate pharmacists and raise awareness among patients and politicians on the danger of counterfeit medicines.
Austria
In October 2010, the Austrian Ministry of Finances (Bundesministerium für Finanzen) partnered with the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists (Österreichische Apothekerkammer) to organise a nation-wide communication campaign to inform patients and the general public on the dangers of buying counterfeit medicines over the internet.
The key messages of the campaign was to stay on the safe side for your health, don't buy medicines over the Internet.
This communication campaign consisted of:
- a website to explain the dangers of buying counterfeit medicines over the Internet: http://auf-der-sicheren-seite.at/
- social media activities (through Facebook) and via an online video
- radio and cinema commercials
- information messages in regional medias
On the Austrian Pharmacists Day (5 October 2010), all Austrian pharmacies disseminated patient leaflets. In total, 450 000 patients visited a pharmacy on that day and 250 000 patients leaflets were disseminated.
France
In 2007, the French Council of Pharmacists (Ordre national des Pharmaciens) together with the French Drug Regulatory Authority (Agence Française de Sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé), developed a Guide for pharmacists on counterfeit medicines. This guide was launched on the occasion of a communication campaign of these two partners on the risks of counterfeit medicines.
You can download this Guide by clicking here [only French version is available].
Moreover, you can also download the patient information leaflet on counterfeit medicines used during the campaign [only French version available].
Germany
In January 2009, the Federal Union of German Pharmacists Association (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverbände, ABDA) organised a communication campaign at national level to raise awareness amongst the population of the risks of counterfeit medicines over the Internet.
This communication campaign consisted of a video clip (broadcasted over the Internet and in cinemas) as well as free postcards disseminated in restaurants, discos and bars.
Spain
As part of the strategy developed by the Spanish ministry of Health called "Estrategia frente a los medicamentos falsificados", the Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Farmacéuticos and the Spanish ministry of Health signed in 2008 an agreement for an ever stronger collaboration in the fight against counterfeit medicines.
This agreement consisted of:
- the diffusion of the communication campaign "Prevención de la venta ilegal de medicamentos en Internet" to patients in order to raise awareness on the risks of counterfeit medicines over the Internet (click here to access to the website of this campaign)
- training materials for community and hospital pharmacists to facilitate the detection of possible counterfeit medicines (click here to download them)
- to develop procedures to ensure the legality of the suppliers of medicines to the pharmacy
United Kingdom
In 2006, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society together with the English Drug Regulatory Authority (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) developed a guide on counterfeit medicines for pharmacists.
This guide was updated in 2008 and you can download the English version of this guide by clicking here.
Lebanon
In 2008, the Lebanese Council of Pharmacists (Ordre des Pharmaciens du Liban) together with the Lebanese Minister of Health, the FIP-WHO EMRO Pharm Forum and the CIOPF (Conférence Internationale des Ordres de Pharmaciens Francophones) launched a campaign on counterfeit medicines.
This campaign includes several actions.
| Guide for pharmacists: | English version | French version | |
| Posters of the campaign: | English version | French version | |
| Patient leaflet: | English version | French version | Arabic version |
In addition to these activities, the campaign was strengthened by TV spots:
African pharmacists’ involvement
Click here to download the presentation on Country specific case studies – Best practices to combat counterfeit medicines and to protect public health in Africa, presented in 2008 by Luc Besançon, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), The Netherlands.
Cote d’Ivoire
In 2007 the Conseil national de l’Ordre des pharmaciens de Côte d’Ivoire (Pharmaceutical Society of Côte-d’Ivoire) launched a campaign against counterfeit medicines in order to raise awareness of both the general public and the government on this risk of counterfeit medicines.
A special focus was made on the risk associated with buying medicines from an illegal source.
This campaign was relayed on the radio, TV and at pharmacy levels. Click here to have a description of this communication campaign [Presentation available in French only]
Further to this action, the Conseil national was attacked by armed men, demonstrating that the action of the Conseil was not only a threat for counterfeiters but it was an effective one.
Despite this attack, the Conseil national continued its fight for the safety of the Ivorian patients.
