EU partners with ASEAN nations on counterfeit drug prevention
EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans said the EU has launched a new social media campaign entitled “Your Health Is Priceless” which aims to raise awareness of the harms that counterfeit pharmaceutical and healthcare products can cause falsified medicines in Southeast Asia.
Jakarta (VNA) – EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans saidthe EU has launched a new social media campaign entitled “Your Health IsPriceless” which aims to raise awareness of the harms thatcounterfeit pharmaceutical and healthcare products can cause falsifiedmedicines in Southeast Asia.
Thecampaign, part of theEU-funded project Intellectual Property Key South-East Asia (IP Key SEA), constitutesa call for the public to share their experiences with counterfeit medicines onsocial media.
The IP Key SEA is afour-year 7 million EUR (8 million USD) programme implemented by the EuropeanUnion Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
The programme’s main objective is to support intellectualproperties (IP) right protection and enforcement across Southeast Asia, with a view to creating the appropriatelegal and economic environment conducive to trade and investment in the region.
According to astudy recently released byEUIPO and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 90 percent of counterfeitmedicines can be harmful to a patient’s health, because they do not comply withintellectual property law.
They can either be medical drugs like antibiotics, painkillers,and medicines for diabetes, central nervous system, heart disease, cancer,malaria, and HIV/AIDS, orlifestyle drugs and medicines for an esthetical purpose, ranging from beautyinjections to skincare.
However, some of these counterfeit products are classified asfood supplements or cosmetics in some countries.
According to Tiago Guerreiro, IP Key SEA Project Leader, fakemedicines may contain both placebo and dangerous substances. Theobjective of counterfeiters is to make as high a profit as possible from thesale of counterfeit medicines, using cheap substances and materials that couldbe readily available, but are not intended for human consumption./.
The European Union (EU) has announced a project to enhance intellectual and industrial property rights in all member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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