Proud To Be Global Campaign

A French singer, Chimène Badi,  has decided to help raise awareness of counterfeit drugs through the INTERPOL Proud To Be campaign and she will be a Proud To Be goodwill ambassador. Ms. Badi will help raise awareness of fake medicines through concerts and public events. She will also be singing on a Proud To Be album which also involves a number of international artists which will be released in the Spring of this year.

I thought it was really cool that Ms. Badi would be interested and would want to do this because she became more aware of counterfeits. She state that “When I learnt of the extent of the problem of fake medicines, that they can harm people close to me, as well as children, women, and entire families, I immediately accepted to support the Proud To Be campaign.” She also said that “This plight affects the health of entire communities, which is so precious. I feel it is my duty to play my part in informing the general public about the harm caused by fake medicines, including those sold on the Internet.”

INTERPOL’s Proud To Be campaign was launched in October 2011 when two of Africa’s leading musicians, South Africa’s Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour, collaborated on a song which saw its first ever live public performance by Yvonne Chaka Chaka at a special event in Nairobi.

Fake Cancer Drug

Recently in the United States there have been fake vials of Avastin floating around with no active ingredient in them. The FDA announced yesterday that they will be investigating this. These fake drugs for cancer were sold to at least 19 doctors and clinics. Sixteen of those were in California, two in Texas, and one in Chicago. As of right now it is unclear how many were treated with the fake drug and if there are more floating around. Avastin is approved to treat colorectal, lung, kidney and brain cancer. The contents of the vials are still being analyzed

The FDA says the substance came from a foreign supplier called Quality Specialty Products. It also goes by the name Montana Health Care Solutions. (An Internet search turned up companies with these names that do not appear to be the ones the FDA is referring to.) FDA officials said the counterfeit Avastin was imported from Britain and distributed by Volunteer Distribution, a wholesaler based in Gainesboro, Tenn. British regulators notified the FDA about the products in December, but the agency didn’t confirm they were fake until last week.