October 17, 2006
Posted to the web October 17, 2006
A feature by French TV Channel 5 has made the Mauritian authorities suspicious. A raid in the Freeport has led to the arrest of two suspected traffickers and the seizure of drugs.
Mauritius is in the midst of a controversy in a medicine-trafficking case after a programme by French Channel 5 was broadcast on MBCTV ten days ago.
It was reported that fake medicines produced in Mumbai were packed in the Mauritian Freeport and dispatched to African countries. The arrest of a woman from Seychelles and a South African as well as the seizure of 185,000 tablets during a raid in the Freeport last weekend have proved this report correct. The ministry of Health is thinking of recruiting more pharmacists to be posted at the port and airport to help put an end to the traffic.
Immediately after the report was broadcast, the customs commissioner, Bert Cunningham, revealed that his office was taking the case very seriously and that he had ordered an enquiry. He even said he would not be surprised if the news was proved right, as the Freeport is not under constant customs surveillance. We do raids and enquiries only when there are allegations.
And this time, the Mauritian authorities, the Health department and the Adsu have reacted very quickly after the television report as well as the press article on fake medicines, Bert Cunningham pointed out.
Michel Koutouzis, an expert of the European Commission and the United Nations Organisation, and the director Patrice du Tertre worked together on the television report to unveil a network supplying fake medicines. As they had posed as shady dealers in fake medicines, they were able to follow the whole process of this illegal business that represents 10% of the world market, generates 40 million euros and kills thousands of people every year.
When they went to Mumbai, they visited factories working for big multinational companies as well as unofficial ones that supply real and fake medicines - with little or no active constituent. Then, these medicines pass through Dubai, the place for occult funding says the report and Mauritius for packaging before reaching African shores.
Beisdes, some pharmacists are afraid that some of the drugs that are part of the traffic manage to get onto the Mauritian market.
This could explain the large amount of Subutex and other such drugs that have been flooding the market over the past months. They even think that some fake medicines are supplied on the local market despite the reassurance of a source close to the ministry: There is strict control and pharmacies risk losing their operation licences if they do not abide by the regulations of the Pharmacy Act.
As the customs commissioner points out, the best way of putting an end to the traffic would be to have a sophisticated testing laboratory.
Its absence makes it difficult for the authorities to check allegations quickly. The latter are not always accurate and the laboratory would be there to prove them right or wrong. It was alleged, for instance, that fake Tamiflu, a medicine to fight avian flu, was produced in Mauritius at a certain time but an enquiry only proved the allegations were far-fetched.
Someone from the ministry of Health however explains that this is an old project but it is very costly. Another problem is the lack of skilled staff, especially trained chemists, who would have to be remunerated accordingly .
Meanwhile, thousands of people are dying in Africa every year with half of the medicines in pharmacies being fake ones.
If Mauritius succeeds in putting an end to the illegal packaging activity in its Freeport, this may put an end to a world network...
and at the same time clear the country's poor image.
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