Connect with us

Asia

Philippines’ Duterte now targets fake drugs

Published

on

Duterte threatens to arrest ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines has opened a new front in his war on drugs, targeting fake over-the-counter medicines to try to stem the spread of counterfeit paracetamol, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Salvador Panelo, chief presidential legal counsel, said Duterte had ordered police to arrest those responsible.

“They do not only undermine or weaken the national economy by hitting a large-scale industry, they also threaten national security by endangering the health of a vast majority of the people,” Panelo said in a statement.

According to the WHO, in January an estimated one in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified.

WHO said the fake drugs business accounts for about 10 per cent of the annual 300 billion dollars global industry.

Panelo said poor-quality drugs could also contribute to antibiotic resistance, threatening to undermine life-saving medicines in future.

More than 4,000 Filipinos have been killed by police during Duterte’s war on illegal drug use and thousands more by unidentified armed men.

Police say those killed were all dealers who put up violent resistance.

Nan

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

Comments
NIGERIA DECIDES

NIGERIA DECIDES

Shell Digital Plan RESPONSIVE600x750
Shell Digital Plan RESPONSIVE600x750
GTB
JoinOurWhatsAppChannel