Illegal Trade in Medical Products, Social Responsibility and Public Health
DialogueParis, France Strasbourg, France Summer I, 2025
Courses
Traces the history, nature, and current effects of corruption using concrete cases and illustrations. Covers international and national laws and standards against corruption (with special emphasis on the U.N. Convention against Corruption and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). Discusses efforts to measure corruption, governance, and anticorruption efforts. Focuses on the role of stakeholders from private sector to government, civil society, and individual actors. Corruption affects every aspect of our life and its quality. From bribery and illicit enrichment to obstruction of justice, from abuse of power to clientelism and favoritism, corrupt acts touch global, national, and local communities. Illustrates how fundamental are the values and practice of integrity, responsibility, and accountability
This course offers an in-depth review of the extent, nature, victimization, causes, responses and control of the problem of illegal trade in general but with special focus on medical products. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of this type of crime, which is always a major challenge affecting all parts of the world and especially low- and middle-income countries where illicit, substandard or falsified (ISF) medicines consist of up to 60% of the market. The illegal trade in medical products includes the making, transporting, distributing and selling of ISF medical devices, drugs and vaccines, as well as a long list of criminal offenses. The perpetrators range from criminal gangs, individuals, and white-collar professionals to legal companies who are involved in complex legal-illegal networks across manufacturing, supply chains, and final sale to customers.
This Dialogue of Civilizations will focus on two general themes: 1) corruption, integrity and accountability in general and in the health sector in particular and 2) the nature, extent,victimization, causes, responses and control of the problem of illegal trade in medical products.The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of both themes, related forms of crime,extraordinary costs and human rights violations, and policy challenges affecting all parts of the world. We trace the history, nature, causes and effects of corruption through concrete cases and illustrations. We will review international and national laws and standards against corruption.We will also focus on the role of stakeholders from private sector to government, civil society and individual actors in promoting integrity and accountability.
The second course of the Dialogue centers on the problem of substandard or falsified (SF) medicines a problem in all countries but especially in low- and middle-income countries where SF medicines are 10 to 60%of the market. Beyond the public health issues, the adverse effects include billions of dollars in costs to patients and governments, brand damage, illicit competition, wider inequalities, the undermining of justice and the rule of law, security and geopolitical risks. The pandemic experience has added to the urgency for better knowledge, a harmonized normative framework, coordinated responses, new technologies and governance models, as well as capacity building.
