Back The Chair of the MEDICRIME Committee addressed the Committee of Ministers

@ Council of Europe

@ Council of Europe

On 20 October 2021, Mr Sergei Glagolev, Deputy Minister of Health (Russian Federation) and Chair of the Committee of Parties to the MEDICRIME Convention, addressed the Committee of Ministers’ representatives to underline the importance of the Convention as the only international instrument on the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health, especially in view of the extraordinary challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also emphasised the urgency for all Council of Europe member states that have not done it yet, the European Union itself, and other countries beyond the organisation’s geographical scope to sign and ratify the MEDICRIME Convention.

Finally, he invited all member states to join an online event that will mark the 10th Anniversary of the MEDICRIME Convention on 2 December 2021.

More information: MEDICRIME 10th anniversary

Strasbourg 2 November 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.

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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