Addressing the Risk of Product Fraud: A Case Study of the Nigerian Combating Counterfeiting and Sub-Standard Medicines Initiatives

Abstract

Combating counterfeit medicines requires a new and unique crime scene investigation and forensic science approach. The “crime scene” is both at the production of the counterfeit product anywhere in the world and simultaneously at the packaged product in a consumer’s hand. The focus of this paper is the application of criminology theory for prevention of counterfeit medicine risk. While focusing on prevention is not new for the criminology and public health disciplines, it is new with respect to product counterfeiting. It is novel to apply Crime Science theory to a public health challenge. The World Health Organization has specifically defined the scope to include substandard/ spurious/ falsely-labeled/ falsified/ counterfeit medical products (SSFFC or “suff-ick”). A methodology was developed to consider strategic countermeasures based on Situational Crime Prevention which includes the Routine Activities Theory and the Crime Triangle. The Nigerian SSFFC initiatives were used as a case study to apply this theory. The insights are applicable to reducing the public health risk of SSFFC in other countries. This article is a case study with impact assessment that provides the foundation for application of a criminology theoretical perspective.