Counterfeit Products: Stop The Massacre!

C ameroon faces serious and widespread public health and economic challenges from counterfeited goods either smuggled into the country or faked in obscured neighbourhoods in our major cities. According to the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, financial losses incurred by the State are up to FCFA 255 billion annually in lost tax revenues. The figure lends credence to the magni­ tude of the phenomenon of forged products with doubtful qualities in the country. Not only is the local economy bleeding profusely from such unscrupulous practice but also enormous health damages are suffered by the population including loss of lives. The fake goods range from pharmaceuticals (drugs), alcohol and beverages to even building materials. Counterfeited drugs, narcotics, alcohol and other products remain a major public health concern which authorities of the Ministries of Public Health, Trade and the Customs de­ partment are restless in combating. Concordant sta­ tistics indicate that about 40-45 per cent of pharma­ ceuticals in the local market are counterfeited. This figure on the circulation of drugs alone, shows how counterfeited products are ubiquitous in the local market. Essential drugs of doubtful quality are peddled in every street corner while counterfeited alcohol in­ cluding beer, whiskeys and other spirits are fabricated in neighbourhoods under very unclear and unhealthy circumstances. Business operators should stop the massacre and not only think of making profits but should rather prioritise the human lives. Between 2020 and late 2025, customs and health authorities seized nearly 8.7 billion worth of fake medicine as public health reports roughly FCFA 33 billion loss an­ nually due to fake pharmaceuticals. Though the government through its various services is waging a merciless war against counterfeited goods, the phenomenon persists as unscrupulous business operators want to make brisk business even at the de­ triment of human life. Customs units just like the National Brigade for the Repression of Illicit Trade in the Ministry of Trade and security forces routinely confiscate volumes the fake goods, ranging from coun­ terfeit whiskeys and tons of illegal medicines. Media reports on the uncovering of illicit factories and seizure of fake products are reported regularly in cities like Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala. Counterfeit products often lack active ingredients or contain dangerous, toxic chemicals which are most likely to cause harm to the human system. The World Health Organization estimates that substandard and falsified drugs are linked to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths across Sub-Saharan Africa every year. Meanwhile, fake beverages, dairy products and canned goods often grow bacteria and toxins which lead to food poisoning. Fake alcohol on the other hand, contains chemicals like methanol which causes severe health issues like kidney failures, cancers, and blindness, among others, leading to death. Despite the health dangers, traders continue to put pirated goods of doubtful quality to the market...