An international operation to combat the sale of illegal or counterfeit drugs resulted in the identification of 694 sites, 23 of which in Portuguese top-level domains, Infarmed, who also participated in the action, revealed today.
The initiative, which ended this week, also led to the seizure, in the national territory of 40 postal parcels, of a total of 2,296 inspected, said the National Medicines Authority. Due diligence will have prevented 5,445 counterfeit drugs from entering the country, the association estimates.
The operation called Pangea III, organized by IMPACT (International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce), of the World Health Organization, and coordinated by Interpol, also counted on the local participation of ASAE – Authority for Food and Economic Security and DGAIEC – General Directorate of Customs and Special Taxes on Consumption.
At the international level, the operation resulted in the suspension or removal of 290 sites that made illegal or counterfeit drugs available, in the seizure of 11 thousand orders (after 268 thousand inspected). Seventy-six people were also detained or put under investigation, in an initiative that ran from 5 to 12 October and involved more than 40 countries.
One aspect of the action also included information campaigns, which were developed by Infarmed in Portugal, using the Internet as a dissemination platform through the video we reproduce below.
As part of an international operation to combat the illegal sale of medicines, Infarmed developed a video in which it appeals to the population’s awareness of the risks of buying medicines online, which we reproduce below.
