State Department Working To Combat Counterfeit Drugs

“Counterfeit, falsified, and substandard drugs are a dangerous threat to people around the world, including Americans,” therefore “we have a vital interest in ensuring the safety of an ever more complex global drug supply chain,” Jennifer White, a foreign service officer in the Office of International Health and Biodefense in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, writes in a post in the State Department’s “DipNote” blog. She notes that the “Department of State engages in the fight against counterfeit medicines using a multi-faceted approach,” including training foreign drug regulators; funding consumer outreach to raise awareness of the problem; being active in international bodies that address counterfeiting, such as the WHO; and “work[ing] in partnership with other U.S. government agencies, the health care community, patients, civil society, and the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that patients receive safe medicines and that those who put patients’ lives at risk can be prosecuted” (5/22).

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