Medicines for Europe stands ready to contribute to the work of Fight the Fakes in educating and informing people about the public health risk posed by fake medicines.
Medicines for Europe, the voice of the generic, biosimilar and value added medicines in Europe, is proud to announce its partnership in the Fight the Fakes campaign. By joining this initiative, Medicines for Europe acknowledges the magnitude of the problem related to the existence of fake medicines. Fake medicines can be branded or generic, prescription or over-the-counter medicines. They are a threat to patient safety as they will not treat illness and can worsen a patient’s condition, potentially leading to further illness, disability and even death.
Public awareness of the issues related to medicine counterfeiting is fundamental and Medicines for Europe is ready to contribute to Fight the Fakes in educating and informing the public about these risks. Fake medicines represent a serious public health threat, since their quality and safety cannot be proved. Medicines for Europe joins over 30 partner organisations from across the world who will collaborate in raising awareness of fake medicines as part of the Fight the Fakes campaign. This new partnership is being launched today, at the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where Fight the Fakes is participating in an event on the importance of empowering people in the fight against fake medicines.
Adrian van den Hoven, Medicines for Europe Director General highlighted that “Fake medicines are illegal and dangerous. Fight the Fakes represents a great opportunity for a multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary collaboration”.
Medicines for Europe (formerly EGA) represents the generic, biosimilar and value added medicines industries across Europe. Its vision is to provide sustainable access to high quality medicines, based on 5 important pillars: patients, quality, value, sustainability and partnership. Its members employ 160,000 people at over 350 manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, and invest up to 17% of their turnover in medical innovation.
Medicines for Europe member companies across Europe are both increasing access to medicines and driving improved health outcomes. They play a key role in creating sustainable European healthcare systems by continuing to provide high quality, effective generic medicines, whilst also innovating to create new biosimilar medicines and bringing to market value added medicines, which deliver better health outcomes, greater efficiency and/or improved safety in the hospital setting for patients.
For more information please follow us at www.medicinesforeurope.com and on Twitter @medicinesforEU.
Fight the Fakes is a campaign that aims to raise awareness about the dangers of fake medicines. The campaign gives a voice to those who have been personally impacted and shares the stories of those working to put a stop to this threat to public health. It seeks to build a global movement of organisations and individuals who will shine a light on the negative impact that fake medicines have on people around the globe and aim to reduce the negative consequences on individuals worldwide. Fight the Fakes partners endorse the campaign and share the belief that coordination among all actors involved in the manufacturing and distribution of medicines is vital to tackle this public health threat. A Joint Statement signed by all partners is available at www.fightthefakes.org. Follow the campaign @FightTheFakes.
Fight the Fakes campaign communications: Cyntia Genolet c.genolet@fightthefakes.org