#StopFakeMeds #ThinkSmart
Shoppers are increasingly connected with 4.2 billion internet users worldwide.
Developed countries have adapted to e-commerce in health and have developed a legal arsenal to legalize the online sale of medicines not subject to prescription.
In Europe, pharmacies that develop this online business must first have a physical existence, show a flag of the country on the site, a logo, and must be listed on an official list distributed by the national orders of pharmacists or the agencies of pharmacy. health of the countries concerned.
Beware of overly attractive prices for medications online!
How many consumers systematically check that the purchase of medicines made online is indeed linked to a listed pharmacy?
According to the World Health Organization, 50% of medicines from the online market are fraudulent.
In 2010, Interpol’s coordination of the annual “Pangea” operation was two years old then. A partner reported that 96% of sites selling medicines had no right to do so: they did so illegally.
A consumer study dating from 2010 – the only one to date, to my knowledge – commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer aimed to show the behavior of European consumers when faced with fake medicines.
This study surveyed 14,000 people in 14 European countries: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland.
An average of 21% of the European population, or 77 million people, admitted to purchasing prescription drugs without a medical prescription.
More than a quarter of Europeans (29%) who said they bought medicines without a prescription did so via the internet. Among those who had purchased these drugs on the Internet:
- Nearly half got them from websites based outside their country.
- 6.5% responded to advertising emails about these medications.
71% of respondents would not have purchased the products if they had known they were fake.
Drug ad spam accounts for 70% of all messages.
Between 50 and 90% of medications purchased from internet sources that conceal their physical address are falsified medications.
Let’s be ultra-vigilant if we buy medicines online!
