The World Health Organization says up to thirty percent of the medicine sold in many developing countries is not real.
VOA: special.2010.03.01
But charities and fairtrade groups have criticised other retailers for failing to follow suit and argued that many popular products continue to be soldin developed countries at a fraction of their true cost of production.
Two Turkish chemists prescribed penicillin antibiotics without inquiring about any history of allergy, and one Egyptian pharmacy sold a cough suppressant containing oxeladine, a substance banned inmanycountries over fears that it might cause cancer.
That's many times more than in developed countries, where most potentially dangerous fake drugs are sold through rogue Internet pharmacies, but counterfeit drugs increasingly are getting into the supply of pharmacies and hospitals.