Covid-19 has demonstrated the agility and adaptability that criminal organizations have when it comes to making profits. The spread of the virus quickly saw an increase in the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) across the world and organized criminal groups took advantage of this and the gaps in health and criminal justice systems to carry out acts of fraud and sell substandard and falsified medical products with little or no detection.
According to UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly ‘health and lives are at risk with criminals exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to cash in on public anxiety and increased demand for PPE and medications’. As a response to a call from the Member States on the impact of COVID-19 on drugs and crime UNODC published a research brief on ‘COVID-19-related Trafficking of Medical Products as a Threat to Public Health’. The brief aims to alert the international community of the threats posed by organized crime in relation to the trafficking and the supply of substandard and falsified medical products in the context of COVID-19.
The research found that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for a global market for the trafficking of PPE, particularly facemasks. It also highlights the lack of international cooperation in addressing the manufacturing and selling of substandard and falsified medical products. Furthermore, it draws attention to the greater risks that COVID-19 related crime poses to public health as we enter the prevention phase, providing an opportunity for criminal organizations to continue making profits but from possible vaccines or preventative medicines.
The main takeaway from this research is that legal frameworks should be harmonized to strengthen the global approach to the illicit trafficking of substandard and falsified medical products. Along with this, effective systems of individual stakeholders should be developed as a way of promoting international cooperation in combatting this crime. The international community has a responsibility to foster and facilitate shared approaches to developing global solutions for combating the trafficking of substandard and falsified medical products affecting individual and public health both nationally and internationally. By working together, UNODC, WHO, Interpol, the World Customs Organization, and other relevant international bodies can support countries through new or further cross-skill training in the medical sector to tackle current and future challenges.