CAIRO — The number of counterfeit medications in Egyptian markets has recently reached 30% of the total of drugs on the market. The prevalence of counterfeit drugs has even extended to several vital medications used to treat cancer, liver inflammation, allergies, diabetes and tumors.

The consumer, torn between the Ministry of Health, the police and the Ministry of Supply, remains the biggest victim, in the absence of an independent Egyptian drug committee that monitors the registration, pricing, sale and quality control of medications. Egypt’s national economy is suffering as well.

Mohamed Seoudi, the undersecretary of the Egyptian Pharmacists Syndicate, told Al-Monitor, “This problem is tightly linked to pharmacies that have multiple branches whose owners hold huge capital and are close to the decision-makers in Egypt. They are the ones mainly selling counterfeit and smuggled drugs.”

He added, “The lack of laws that deter the counterfeiting of medications has led to the spread of this phenomenon, as Law 126 of 1955, dealing with the practice of the pharmacy profession, is not in line with the spread of counterfeiting that surfaced in the past few years. The sanctions range between a fine that is no less than 20,000 Egyptian pounds [$2,600] and no more than 50,000 pounds [$6,600] or a two-year prison sentence. This is not a deterring law.”