Back New course on the MEDICRIME Convention at the 2021 HELP Network e-Conference

@ Council of Europe

@ Council of Europe

On 2nd July 2021, the new online HELP course on Pharmaceutical crime and the MEDICRIME Convention was presented in the framework of the Council of Europe HELP Programme’s Annual Network Conference.

This course provides a condensed overview of the MEDICRIME convention and introduces learners to the reasoning behind the creation of the first international treaty against falsified medical products and other similar crimes involving threats to public health. The course describes the type of offences covered by the Convention, shares useful information on specific investigation techniques and tools and highlights the importance of international cooperation in this field to combat such criminal behaviours which put public health at risk.

This presentation noted that the free 6-hour long HELP course is primarily aimed at legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law-enforcement officials) throughout the Council of Europe member States and beyond. It can also serve as a useful tool for policy makers, other civil servants and representatives of civil society.

Further information on the HELP e-Conference held on 1-2 July 2021 can be found here.
Strasbourg 2nd July 2021
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Covid 19

At a time when the Covid-19 epidemic is posing unprecedented challenges to the health sector, the Council of Europe calls on governments to be extremely vigilant against counterfeit or falsified medicines and medical products. Faced with this threat, states can rely on the MEDICRIME Convention to safeguard public health and target the criminal behaviour of those who, like criminal networks, take advantage of the loopholes in our systems and of the current crisis.

Handbook for Parliamentarians

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Handbook for Parliamentarians

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"In recent years, occurrences of counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes have increased worldwide. These crimes endanger public health, and affect patients and their confidence in the legal marketplace.

Even more profitable than drug trafficking, this new form of crime has an undeniable advantage for criminals: they go largely unpunished or receive only mild sanctions. Even when states take strict measures to regulate the production and distribution of medical products and devices, these measures often prove insufficient, especially when criminal networks find gaps in national legislations allowing them to make substantial profits at the expense of people’s lives and health. The MEDICRIME Convention was drafted to protect vulnerable patients and their right to safe access to medicines of appropriate quality, and to fight against organised crime. As the first and only international treaty dealing with this problem, the convention aims at prosecuting the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes, protecting the rights of victims and promoting national and international co-operation."

Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe