"Falsified Medicines - the Cost to Public Health"

A recent report by the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy – EU ( www.asop.eu) has highlighted the significant cost to the public health purse caused by highly organized criminal activity which results in patients and consumers buying falsified medicines online outside of European Union member state - controlled and regulated health systems.

The report was presented during a round table discussion held on June 19 in the European Parliament and hosted by Member of the European Parliament Bill Newton-Dunn. At any one time there are in excess of 30,000 fake pharmacy web sites aimed at the European population and this equates to in excess of 97% of all online pharmacy web sites.

The report estimated that between 1 billion euros ($1.33 billion) and 3 billion euros is the cost of sales of falsified medicines in Europe in one year and that this number would increase despite all of the extra and successful measures being taken by law enforcement bodies such as INTERPOL and EUROPOL and national law enforcement bodies. ASOP - The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy – EU plays a crucial role in bringing together, on a voluntary and collaborative basis, all stakeholders to create an environment that enables patients to buy their medicines online safely (where it is legal to do so).