5/21/12, "Third of malaria drugs 'are fake'," BBC
"A third of malaria drugs used around the world to stem the spread of the disease are counterfeit, data suggests.
Researchers who looked at 1,500 samples of seven malaria drugs from seven countries in South East Asia say poor-quality and fake tablets are causing drug resistance and treatment failure.
Data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results.
Experts say The Lancet Infectious Diseases research is a "wake-up call".
The US researchers from the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health who carried out the work believe the problem may even be much greater than data suggests.
"Most cases are probably unreported, reported to the wrong agencies, or kept confidential by pharmaceutical companies," say the researchers.
No large studies of drug quality have been carried out in China or India - countries that house a third of the world's population and are a "probable" source of many counterfeit drugs as well as genuine antimalarial medicines, they say....
But the World Health Organization says maintaining current rates of progress will not be enough to meet global targets for malaria control.
It is calling for renewed investment in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria."
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Ed. note: Translation: "Global" health group WHO has had billions of dollars and many years to accomplish this simple task and has completely failed. Even now, all they say is they need more "investment," ie US taxpayer dollars. Nothing will change unless murderous cultures are changed. The US has stood by for decades, berated US taxpayers for being greedy and causing poverty in 'developing' countries, and sent millions more US taxpayer dollars into equatorial despots' bank accounts.
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