This document from the Medicines Transparency Alliance — founded by the World Bank, the WHO and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) — gives an account of a pilot programme that  investigated the medicines supply chain to identify problems that prevent vulnerable people from accessing essential medicines. It presents findings from Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, the Philippines, Uganda and Zambia. The programme relied on different stakeholders from government, civil society and the private sector to collect, share and analyse data. The evidence gathered through the project was used to inform policy in these countries.

This briefing paper, aimed at policymakers and researchers, discusses the regulatory implications of having varied definitions of the term 'counterfeit' and outlines successful law enforcement initiatives to halt the trade in fake drugs. The paper outlines the problem of counterfeit medicines and the urgent issues to be considered by the international community before taking additional steps to tackle it. It discusses the controversy around intellectual property rights and counterfeits, and investigates the motives behind some anti-counterfeiting initiatives that seem to be more concerned with protecting patents.