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News -
Odds and ends
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Written by Catalina Lobo-Guerrero
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Thursday, 05 March 2009 23:18 |
Wide disparities in enforcement and regulations have encouraged the worldwide proliferation of rogue online pharmacies.
In the late 1990s, the International Narcotics Control Board, the independent and quasi-judicial body that oversees the implementation of international drug control treaties, expressed concern about the spread of illegal online pharmacies across the globe.
But it wasn´t until 2004 that the Board decided to investigate how countries around the world were cracking down on online pharma. They designed a survey in 2005 and requested governments to describe the operations of rogue online pharmacies in their countries and to list the rules and regulations they had in place to rein them in.
But by November 2006, only 45 countries had provided the requested information to the Board. Moreover, the results reflected how unprepared most of the countries were to deal with this growing problem.
- Only 40 per cent of the responding governments reported having in place legislation for dealing with illegal Internet pharmacies.
- As much as 56 percent of the responding governments admitted that their legislative provisions did not provide adequate sanctions for the diversion and illegal sales of controlled drugs by Internet pharmacies.
- Only 9 percent reported they had a mechanism for voluntary cooperation between the competent authorities and manufacturers and wholesalers.Only 10 governments reported having practical experience in the control and investigation of illegal Internet pharmacies.
Finally, after four years of requesting governments around the world to provide information, the INCB will soon release the guidelines for governments to prevent the illicit sale of internationally controlled substances. The Board is not only asking governments to take internal measures but also to coordinate efforts with other countries. A summary of these new guidelines and cooperation strategies countries are adopting will be posted soon in this blog.
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Last Updated on Friday, 20 March 2009 13:20 |
