Millions of people around the world purchase illegal pharmaceutical drugs from illegal drugs manufacturers who infringe on drug patents. As much as thirty percent of pharmaceutical drugs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are illegal. Many of these drugs are not properly made or are completely fake and they have proven to be toxic. So, the UN office of drugs and crime (UNODC) is trying to minimize the amount of illegal pharmaceutical drugs in the world.They are working to have drug information easily accessible to all countries and to have more drug enforcement offices around the world.
Will taking down these illegal drug organizations help the people in these countries? The truth is that most of these illegal drug manufacturer are there compete with the high prices of pharmaceutical drugs. Plus, most people in these countries are already living in poverty and cannot afford these drugs, so they buy the cheap illegal ones. Maybe the hype about the illegal drugs being dangerous has been blown out of proportion by the pharmaceutical companies who would benefit from stopping the distribution of these drugs. If this is the case then it would be ideal if UNODC continues to stop the illegal drugs that are causing harm, while also working with pharmaceutical companies and countries to minimize prices.
This is a very touchy subject due to the nature of the amount of money put into drug manufacturing. In no way am I advocating for high priced drugs and the pharmaceutical industry, but one company may spend countless years and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars on one breakthrough drug. Hence, the reason for drug patents.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is, knock of drugs do not go through the same scrupulous testing process and may cause more harm than good in the long run.
I would like to believe as you do Dove that the hype about illegally manufactured drugs is blown out of proportion, but in those undeveloped countries, I would be surprised if even twenty-five percent of the illegal drugs were legitimate and functioning as the original drug intended. Illegal drug manufacturers are just trying to make a profit, and considering the lax regulations currently, they have no incentive to put the time and money into producing a safe, quality product. Very interesting post.
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