WHO To Move On Internet Drug Trade

At its annual meeting in May in Geneva, the World Health Organizationwill consider a draft resolution calling for countermeasures to curb the potentially dangerous trade in pharmaceuticals over the Internet.

The draft is now being drawn up by officials of various governments concerned over the widening phenomenon through the global computer network, sources told the Kyodo News Service, with Belgium taking the lead.

The draft resolution calls for the WHO secretariat to survey the current situation, set up a special working group to consider policy responses and define a set of conclusions by next January. Problems involve dangerous drugs being sold without a prescription, drugs past their expiry date being sold to developing countries, and drugs from countries not requiring prescriptions being sold to countries which do require them.