This article is a call for radically improved communication about the dangers of substandard and fake drugs, particularly in poor countries. This is currently a "vast and underreported problem" that the pharmaceutical industry fails to address, and it should be monitored independently, say the authors. Using examples of fake drug sales in Africa and Asia, they argue that without action, lives will remain at risk, and public confidence in the pharmaceutical industry will be undermined in the long term.

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