Pan-African Conference Focuses on Keeping the Medicine Supply in Africa Safe

Regulators Meet to Address the Threat of Counterfeit Medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa

An international conference to discuss the issue of counterfeit
medicines in Africa started this week in Johannesburg. The aim of the
conference, which is sponsored by Pfizer, is for representatives from
sub-Saharan countries to discuss the threats that counterfeit
medicines and unregistered generics pose for the safety of patients in
this region and to develop joint plans of action to address this
issue.

Twenty customs officials, medicine regulators and government
representatives from ten sub-Saharan countries, as well as
representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) will meet over the course of
three days. The program includes workshops during which the
participants will share experiences and develop comprehensive action
plans to help keep medicine supplies in Africa secure and safe.

"The threat that counterfeit medicines pose to society is very
real," said WHO Representative Dr. Moses Chisale. "Counterfeit
medicines are present in all regions but those areas where regulatory
and legal oversight are weakest bear the brunt of the problem. Even
though we may not know the exact magnitude of the problem in different
parts of the world, the problem is there and it is growing. Combating
counterfeiting is a shared responsibility involving relevant
government agencies, manufacturers, distributors, health
professionals, consumers and the general public. Governments have to
create the appropriate environment for the participation of all
concerned partners."

The WHO defines a fake or counterfeit drug as a medicine which is
deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity
and/or source. Counterfeiting poses an important public health issue.
A wide range of medicines, including Pfizer medicines, have been
counterfeited to date. Counterfeit drugs can cause serious health
problems, and can result in death, as has been the case in some
countries where epidemics like malaria have been treated with
"medicines" that have contained no active ingredients. In other cases
where the active ingredient is absent or at very low levels,
counterfeit drugs will simply provide no health benefit at all.

There are also cases where medicines contain far too much active
ingredient and are potentially harmful for that reason. In addition,
counterfeit drugs may have been manufactured in unclean environments
without the normal environmental safety controls, or their production
may have occurred in a substandard environment and they may contain
dangerous pollutants.

"We believe that patients who require our medicines should get a
safe and effective medicine and not a potentially dangerous
counterfeit," said Karl Lintel, Pfizer´s Regional Director for Africa.
"We are committed as a company to do all we can to keep fake medicines
out of the marketplace so that they are not a threat to patient
health. This conference is a demonstration of our commitment."

Counterfeit medicines are a global problem from which no region is
exempt. While it is difficult to accurately describe the full scope of
the counterfeiting problem, reported seizures of counterfeit medicines
do serve as a useful baseline. Since 2004, authorities have seized
more than 30 million counterfeit Pfizer tablets, and enough active
pharmaceutical ingredients to manufacture over 50 million more.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Inc, founded in 1849, is dedicated to better health and
greater access to health care for people and their valued animals.
Every day, approximately 90,000 colleagues in more than 150 countries
work to discover, develop, manufacture and deliver quality, safe and
effective prescription medicines to patients.