Cambodia Becomes "Illegal Drug Dump"

Cambodian Ministry of Health officials have said the country has become a dumping ground for illegal pharmaceuticals, with more than half of the $180 million annually spent on medicines being used to purchase these products.

The Secretary of State for Health, Dy Narongrith, said that drugs, which were faulty or past their expiry date, came from neighboring countries to be sold in unlicensed pharmacies, which outnumber legal shops two-to-one, according to Reuters. There are more than 560 illegal pharmacies in the capital Phnom Penh, commented the Minister, with only 200 trained pharmacists and 276 registered pharmacies. A newly-passed law, which allows the Ministry to prosecute owners of the unlicensed pharmacies, and impose fines of up to $20,000 and jail sentences of up to 10 years, could help to ease the problem, he noted.