for around 42% of this demand because of the continent’s badly monitored borders, weak legislation and poor healthcare services.
The smuggling of fake drugs has a long history in the country. Unlicensed medicinal drugs first appeared on Libreville’s streets decades ago and have increased in range and accessibility. They were smuggled in from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and India, where genuine products are substituted with a substandard drug that excludes an active ingredient or contains a toxic substance.
The government has introduced several measures to curb the sale and use of these drugs. At the regional level, Gabon and 15 other African countriesthe Rabat Resolution in 2018 — a new framework to address the problem. On the domestic front, anyone convicted of facilitating the purchase, sale, use, marketing, transport, import, processing, supply and distribution of counterfeit medicines can be imprisoned for up to 10 years or fined up to $1,719,940.