The founder and chairperson of the Brazzaville Foundation, Jean-Yves Ollivier, in an exclusive meeting with the Liberian Leader, expressed his foundation’s willingness to collaborate with other medical institution in fighting illicit medicines that kill in Liberia and Africa.
President Joseph N. Boakai expressed his government’s willingness and promised that his government will work with his organization in fighting to weed out illicit pharmaceutical medical drugs coming into the country.
He said illicit drugs are one of the causes for death in our sub-region and needs to be stopped.
Speaking to a team of reporters in Monrovia on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 where he disclosed that his organization’s intention is to fight pharmaceutical illicit Drug on the local market in the sub African region, he ignited that falsified and substandard medicines deprives African patients of affordable quality medicines.
The founding Chairperson stated that Africa is highly dependent on drugs importations, 70 to 90 % of medicines consumed in sub-Saharan Africa are imported.
He said all medicines are at risk of containing toxic or contaminated substances.
Mr. Ollivier said further that damaged to Africa economics, social-economic losses caused by trafficking in falsified and substandard medicines undermine the economics of African countries, particularly through money laundering, and the illegal drug market is estimated to be worth $200 billion worldwide.
The Foundation Chairperson emphasized that the effects of corrupt agents on the pharmaceutical supply chin raises awareness of the need for an inter-ministerial action at government level in all African countries and have a coordinated plan between the public and private sectors and civil society actors to effectively fight trafficking.
Mr. Ollivier disclosed that his organization has put into prospective the process of placing a legislation to criminalize trafficking in falsified and substandard medicines and to impose severe criminal sanction on violators through government intervention.
In order to reach that international agreements, notably the MEDICRIME Convention to establish and carve the treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency has been launched.
He stressed that to respond to the challenges identified, member countries have been called upon to implement national plans to fight FSMs which are structured around four complementary areas and two levers of action.
Those structured areas include, Rule of Law, State Security, Economic Policy and Public Health which will reduce trafficking in FSMs and criminal activities.
The Foundation Chairman lamented that his organization have identified five priority targets of the national plans to fight FSMs.
These plans when targeted will focus on Traffickers, Women selling falsified medicines, Women buyers, Young people and Public opinion. With these five thematic areas, it will help to support behavioral changes among groups of individuals who can effectively contribute to the reduction of traffic of FSMs.
