The Council of Europe has highlighted the role of the MEDICRIME Convention in protecting patients from illegal and falsified medical products, following a European Parliament debate on illegal and falsified medicines sold online.
During the debate in Strasbourg, European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Várhelyi emphasized the importance of protecting patients and strengthening cross-border cooperation against illegal markets. He highlighted the need for coordinated action involving health authorities, law enforcement, customs, judicial authorities and digital platforms.
The Council of Europe noted that the MEDICRIME Convention provides a legally binding criminal-law framework to support cooperation, prevention, prosecution, and the protection of victims and witnesses. Patient awareness was also identified as an important part of efforts to address risks associated with falsified medical products.
The World Patients Alliance is an observer to the MEDICRIME Committee. In this role, WPA supports efforts to ensure that patient safety and patient perspectives remain part of international cooperation to address falsified medical products and related threats to public health.
Protecting patients requires access to trustworthy information, safe and legitimate sources of medical products, effective safeguards, and cooperation across borders. WPA will continue to contribute the patient perspective to relevant discussions within the MEDICRIME framework.