A total of 59 activities with more than 2300 participants took place during the reporting period which included assistance in developing legislation and strategic documents, assessment, and baseline studies, strengthening the capacity of the authorities (legal and law-enforcement authorities), promoting the inter-disciplinary work and strengthening international co-operation.

Technical seminars held in Europe, the Americas and African regions introduced national authorities to the challenges posed by falsified medical products and highlighted the benefits of joining the Convention, leading to both public commitments from national authorities to accede to it and the drafting of declarations supporting the convention’s principles. As a result, the Project contributed to the accession of 11 additional countries to the MEDICRIME Convention, significantly expanding its global reach. Through collaboration with national authorities, the Project also helped strengthen legal frameworks and promoted the effective implementation of the Convention.

The alignment of legal systems with the MEDICRIME Convention contributed to reducing the entry of counterfeit medical products and similar crimes into legitimate markets and supply chains, ultimately protecting public health. A notable example is the legal assistance provided to Côte d'Ivoire. This assistance set an important precedent, serving as a model for future cooperation between European and African countries.

The Project also supported the drafting of the MEDICRIME Strategy 2024-25, adopted by the Committee of Parties, which provided new tools and concrete responses to the ongoing and emerging challenges faced by state authorities.

New skills, capacity building measures and tools allowed legal, health, customs, and law-enforcement authorities to pave the way for preventing and reducing from the legal chain falsified medical products as well as implementing criminal investigations following the Results-based management strategy (CoE theory of change). Furthermore, the Project facilitated the translation of the HELP MEDICRIME training into 9 languages (Armenian, Bosnian, French, Italian, Macedonian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, and Turkish), increasing its accessibility. This training, which reached over 1730 participants, enhanced the knowledge of national authorities to combat pharmaceutical crime.

A key achievement of the Project was the establishment of a 24/7 Network to improve international cooperation and information exchange. This network will ensure real-time collaboration among countries, crucial for tackling the global issue of falsified medical products, regardless of whether the countries involved are Parties to the MEDICRIME Convention.

In summary, the Project generated global momentum toward strengthening legislation and advancing the implementation of the MEDICRIME Convention. Its achievements underscore the importance of international cooperation and capacity-building in combating pharmaceutical crime and protecting public health

All the information, activities and results will be available on the project’s page.