MicrobeWorld

Smithsonian magazine has published a feature on tracking counterfeit malarial drugs and attempts to shut down the black market industry.

"Southeast Asia is awash in counterfeit medications, none more insidious than those for malaria, a deadly infectious disease that is usually curable if treated early with appropriate drugs. Pharmacies throughout the region are stocked with the fake malaria medicine, which is generally cheaper than the real thing."

"Nobody knows the full scope of the crime, although the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that counterfeit drugs are associated with up to 20 percent of the one million malaria deaths worldwide each year. Reliable statistics in Southeast Asia are hard to come by, partly because the damage seldom arouses suspicion and because victims tend to be poor people who receive inadequate medical treatment to begin with."