An exploratory assessment of the legislative framework for combating counterfeit medicines in South Africa

BACKGROUND: Substandard and Falsified (SF) medical products are a growing global concern. They harm the individual patient, the healthcare system and the economy. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted contributing factors globally: insufficient national medicine regulation, poor enforcement of existing legislation, weak stakeholder collaboration and the rise of novel viruses, such as the COVID-19. The study aimed to assess the legislative and policy framework and institutional relationships governing pharmaceuticals and anti-counterfeiting strategies. METHODS: The study was explorative and consisted of two phases. The first phase was between 2016 and 2017. It looked at document analysis (annual reports and press releases from 2011 to 2016) from government institutions involved in medicines regulation and law enforcement for SF seizure reports between 2004 and 2017. The second phase was between 2016 and 2018 through in-depth semi-structured interviews (seven in total) with selected stakeholders. RESULTS: First Phase—the data collected and reported by various departments was sporadic and did not always correlate for the same periods indicating, a lack of a central reporting system and stakeholder collaboration. In South Africa, counterfeiting of medicines mainly involves the smuggling of non-registered goods. The most common counterfeit items were painkillers, herbal teas, herbal ointments, while some were medical devices. Furthermore, Customs identified South Africa as a transhipment point for SF infiltration to neighbouring countries with less robust regulatory systems. Second phase—interview transcripts were analysed by thematic coding. These were identified as the adequacy of legislation, institutional capacity, enforcement and post-market surveillance, stakeholder collaboration and information sharing, and public education and awareness. CONCLUSION: Document analysis and interviews indicate that South Africa already has a national drug policy and legislative framework consistent with international law. However, there is no specific pharmaceutical legislation addressing the counterfeiting of medicines. Law enforcement has also been complicated by poor stakeholder engagement and information sharing. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40545-021-00387-8.