The Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medical products and other similar crimes involving threats to public health (CETS No. 211), known as the MEDICRIME Convention, was presented to Ms Rose Mutombo Kiese, Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo, by the Executive Secretary of the Committee of the Parties to the Convention. The discussion focused on the numerous benefits of this criminal-law convention.

Intended to protect public health, the MEDICRIME Convention introduces criminal sanctions and provides for preventive measures and the protection of victims. Open to accession by countries around the world, the Convention also provides a framework for international co-operation and measures to improve co-ordination at national level.

In Africa, the MEDICRIME Convention has already been ratified by 5 countries (Benin, Burkina-Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger). Two other countries (Côte d’Ivoire and Mali) have signed the Convention, and three other countries (Congo, Togo and Tunisia) have been invited to accede to the Convention.