A new report on the proliferation of fake and sub-standard drugs, especially on the African continent, is indeed worrying. Most of the drugs are meant to treat the worst disease that afflicts the continent; Malaria.Africa has for long been the dumping ground of illegal, sub-standard and counterfeit goods, and in most cases, we are to blame.Lenient– and sometimes inexistent – policies regulating importation of goods, corruption and lack of quality control, create a conducive environment for the proliferation of counterfeit and hazardous goods.But this does neither exonerate consumers nor their ignorance of the dangers that accompany taking fake drugs. What lacks in most so-called third world countries is affordable and accessible healthcare, which pushes patients to take the most available short cut that usually leads to the nearest quack doctor.Rwanda has addressed the issue by mechanisms such as the community health scheme, Mutuelle de santé, that gives affordable health cover to the quasi-totality of the population.This does not mean to say that there are no counterfeit drugs on the market, but it is the zeal by which the government fights to contain the vice that makes the difference. The no-nonsense approach to quality control, zero tolerance to corruption, the strict adherence to set guidelines will go a long way to protect the people.
