Medicine Trafficking in Central Africa is Major Public Health Threat: UN

By the Editorial Team · Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Central African countries are facing a major public health threat due to the widespread trafficking of counterfeit and substandard medicines, as revealed in a joint report by UNODC, WHO, and CEMAC. The illicit trade undermines treatment effectiveness and safety, prompting urgent calls for strengthened regional regulations and improved access to affordable, quality healthcare products to prevent further disease-related deaths.

Countries in Central Africa are grappling with a significant public health risk stemming from the illicit trafficking of medicines, according to a report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). This illicit trade arises from a gap between the demand for affordable, safe medications and their availability within the region’s healthcare systems.

The six CEMAC member states—Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon—face high rates of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV. However, limited access to affordable and quality treatments has created fertile grounds for an illegal market in medical products, the report states. The trafficking involves the diversion of prescription drugs from authorized supply chains and national health program stocks, alongside the sale of counterfeit, substandard, or unapproved medicines.

Between 2020 and 2025, authorities seized at least 251 tonnes of illicit medicines across the six countries, highlighting the extensive scale of the problem. The UNODC emphasized that such trafficking represents a severe threat to public health, contributing to treatment failures, cases of poisoning, and preventable fatalities. Alarmingly, some counterfeit medicines have even infiltrated official healthcare facilities, undermining public trust in healthcare services.

The report references WHO estimates from 2017 to underscore the potential human cost of this issue across sub-Saharan Africa. It notes that falsified or substandard antimalarial drugs could be linked to between 72,000 and 267,000 deaths annually. Additionally, poor-quality antibiotics used to treat childhood pneumonia may be associated with up to 169,271 deaths each year.

The findings point to the urgent need for enhanced regional cooperation and stronger regulatory mechanisms to ensure the availability of safe, affordable medicines and to disrupt the illicit supply chains that put millions at risk. Improving access to legitimate healthcare products is critical to containing the spread of infectious diseases and reducing avoidable deaths in Central Africa.

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