Source: O Fluminense - RJ - 13/08/2009

Citing the estimate that 20% to 30% of the drugs sold in the country are counterfeit, Senator Papaléo Paes (PSDB-PA) defended, on Thursday, that the federal government adopt new measures to combat this crime. He announced that at the next meeting of the Social Affairs Commission (CAS), he would request a public hearing to discuss the issue - which was the subject of a report published in the newspaper Correio Braziliense.  

Papaléo also pointed out that, according to the Etco Institute, the “mafias” of counterfeit drugs that operate in the country move around US $ 4 billion annually. He also informed that, in the first four months of this year, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) seized 170 tons of fake medicines - which, according to him, is equivalent to eight times the total of last year's seizures.  

Among the most “pirated” remedies, the senator mentioned those indicated for weight loss and erectile dysfunction, in addition to those used as anabolics. According to Papaléo, the internet has become the main means of selling these products, due to the difficulty in tracking and identifying sites that practice such trade, often based in other countries. He also noted that “a large part” of products enter Brazil through Paraguay, to be then offered on the internet, at street vendor stands and in pharmacies.