The illegal trade of pharmaceuticals is becoming a significant public health threat in Central Africa, exacerbated by challenges in accessing safe and affordable medications. This warning comes from a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).
This issue particularly affects Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, where infectious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV are prevalent.
The report indicates that difficulties in obtaining legally approved medicines, coupled with their cost for some of the population, are fueling a parallel market. From 2020 to 2025, authorities in these six countries seized a total of at least 251 tons of pharmaceuticals.
The illegal market includes products diverted from regulated supply chains and national health program stocks, as well as counterfeit, substandard, or unauthorized medicines.
Among the identified products are antibiotics, antimalarials, painkillers, and anti-inflammatories, along with psychoactive substances like tramadol and pregabalin.
The UNODC warns that the circulation of these drugs can lead to treatment failures, poisonings, and preventable deaths. The risk is heightened by the fact that, in some cases, products from illegal sources reach official healthcare facilities, which are generally trusted by patients.
To illustrate the potential scale of the problem, the report references a 2017 WHO estimate for the entire sub-Saharan Africa. According to those figures, counterfeit or substandard antimalarials could be linked to between 72,000 and 267,000 deaths annually, while poor-quality antibiotics used against childhood pneumonia could be associated with up to 169,271 deaths each year.
Trafficking routes cross various entry points in the region. Some medicines arrive via sea and river ports, while others are transported by air as cargo or hidden in passenger luggage. From there, they are distributed inland along major trade routes.
The UNODC also highlights that the issue has implications beyond health. Illegal trade funds organized crime, weakens public institutions, and promotes the recreational use of addictive psychoactive substances.
The situation is particularly complex in the Central African Republic, where armed groups profit by looting healthcare facilities and imposing fees on shipments passing through territories they control, according to the report.
A recent seizure in Gabon has highlighted the scale of cross-border trafficking: at the end of September, customs authorities intercepted 17,000 tramadol tablets, linking the shipment to trafficking networks from neighboring Cameroon.
International organizations emphasize that closing the gap between the demand for healthcare and the availability of safe, affordable medicines remains crucial to combating an illegal market that impacts both public health and regional security.
(Associated Medias) - All rights reserved