New Digs

The Authentics Foundation is proud to report that it has upscaled its online home. Check us out at myauthentics.com. And while you're there, check out our new blog. We'll be posting there from now on, but will leave this site up as an archive of our online anticounterfeiting efforts.

NIR to My Heart.....

Good news from azonano.com - NIR Technology Systems has developed a way for field agents to determine whether drugs are counterfeit in real time, without needing to go back to the lab. Utilizing near-infrared spectrometers that read near-infrared waves bounced off of the pills in question to determine their chemical composition. This technology not only able to determine the level of fakery for the drug in question, but can also to ascertain its source in some instances. Truly ingenious!

The applications for law enforcement and science boggle the mind. Everyone from Horatio Caine to Mr. Spock is going to want one of these babies. Good job, NIRS!

Wrist Slap

Here is a disheartening story that just came over the wire - Viraj Shah was caught with 1.8 million pounds/ over $2 million worth of counterfeit drugs in London, and received a 51 week suspended prison sentence.

Any person possessing that much counterfeit medication is likely to have considerable assets, if only to purchase and sell at his point on the supply chain. He would also likely possess at least some information relating to his supply chain, such as who bought counterfeit drugs from him and who may have sold counterfeit drugs to him. And yet, there is no talk of a fine or even any certainty of Mr. Shah serving one day in prison. And, it does not appear from the article that Mr. Shah relayed any useful information concerning his cohorts to prosecutors.

Now maybe there is information on this case that the public is not aware of yet. Perhaps this man did inform on his partners in crime sotto voce, or maybe the state's case had a fatal flaw. But there is no evidence that any deal was made - the man was prosecuted, tried, convicted and sentenced.

The dangers of counterfeit medication are manifest and well-documented. Aside from possibly being ineffective and causing indirect harm, counterfeit medicines may well contain incorrect dosages or be made out of substances like cement powder - or worse.

The goals of criminal law enforcement are to mete out justice, rehabilitate the criminal and provide disincentives for the criminal and the public to engage in similar future behavior. Given the reckless dangers involved in dealing fake meds, it is clear that the crime well exceeded the very light punishment. There is also no evidence that Mr. Shah has been rehabilitated or even feels remorse for his actions. And as far as providing disincentives, the public has now been made aware of a lucrative career with extremely limited downside. So until the state gets serious about getting tough on people like Mr. Shaw, this problem will not get better.

With this publicity, it will likely get worse.

UPDATE: The press release from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) describes how Mr. Shah got caught (inspection of consignments at Heathrow Airport) and the sentencing process (Mr. Shah plead guilty, and will perform community service in addition to his suspended sentence).

Counterfeiting and the Developing World

The industrialized world might look at the developing world as a source of counterfeit crime, and that perception has some justification. After all, industry in the developing world has little capital for research and development, and the cheaper and more lucrative (if unlawful) route to development is often through counterfeiting goods and impinging on intellectual property rights.

But there is another side of the story, particularly in the realm of pharmaceutical products. In a region where up to 30% of the pharmaceuticals are counterfeit, citizens of third world countries suffer greatly when fake medicines enter their own health product supply chain. Nobody in these countries is immune from the risks of counterfeit drugs. For example, this article cites that the head of drug quality in Nigeria, Dr Dora Akunyili, suffered when her own sister died as a result of taking a counterfeit drug. But with weak central governments and the backing of organized crime, a successful effort is likely to be based on international cooperation.

Check out the article for an informative look at the issue.

June 12 is World Day Against Child Labor

The Authentics Foundation
Partners with
CARE USA
Supporting the Global Launch of the
Pasty Collins Trust Fund Initiative
Advocacy Grants Program

Quality Education: Unlocking the Power Within
Liberated from Exploitation, Empowered to End Poverty

World Day Against Child Labor
12 June 2008

In observance of World Day Against Child Labor (WDACL), the Authentics Foundation is pleased to announce its partnership with CARE USA’s global launch of the Pasty Collins Trust Fund Initiative (PCTFI) Global Advocacy Grants Program (AGP) focused on increasing the educational attainment for girls marginalized by hazardous and exploitative child labor.

The Authentics Foundation recognizes CARE’s leadership and efforts in combating hazardous and exploitative children labor around the world and is pleased to be a part of this year’s WDACL observances. CARE is staging and participating in global observances in Indonesia, Tanzania, NW Balkans & Serbia, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and the United States supporting this year’s WDACL theme “Education, the Right Response to Child Labor.”

Along with the financial support of the Authentics Foundation, CARE USA, the International Labor Organization-International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), and its national partners are working in tandem hosting national public awareness events around the world focusing on the importance of a quality education for children engaged in hazardous and exploitative child labor, especially girls. This advocacy initiative being launched today will give a voice to girls who are hidden, often along the margins of society quietly toiling away in isolation, never having the chance to realize the promise of an education-much less ever seeing the inside of a classroom for themselves. No longer will their voices go unheard. Central to their struggle of lifting themselves out of poverty is unlocking the power within through the provisions of a quality education.

The Authentics Foundation will be funding a four-year policy and advocacy program aimed at bring about lasting change for adolescent girl child laborers. By working towards a more conducive policy environment in favor of specific policies that liberate girls trapped by hazardous and exploitative child labor and that ensure the promise of a quality education, the Authentics Foundation envisions a world free from the exploitation of children, empowering the end of global poverty. Through specific interventions targeting sustainable change will this vision become a reality for 216 million child laborers around the world.

For more information on the Authentics Foundation, please visit www.myauthentics.com and to learn more about CARE’s efforts to eliminate hazardous and exploitative child labor please visit www.care.org and do your part by making a contribution today.