Source: Medical Xpress
After he was struck down by malaria and typhoid, Togolese tailor Ayawo Hievi thought he was set to recover when he started taking drugs prescribed by his doctor.
But far from curing him, the medication he was given at the neighbourhood clinic made him far worse—eventually costing him one of his kidneys. The drugs were fake.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year some 100,000 people across Africa die from taking "falsified or substandard" medication.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated in 2015 that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor quality anti-malaria drugs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Weak legislation, poor healthcare systems and widespread poverty have encouraged the growth of this parallel—and deadly—market. Since 2013, Africa has made up 42 percent of the fake medicine seized worldwide.
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