Friday 24 March is World TB Day. To mark the occasion, Fight the Fakes campaign will support national governments, the World Health Organization and members of civil society in raising public awareness of the tuberculosis epidemic.  

Fake medicines hinder progress in treatment and eradication on tuberculosis, as antibiotics used to treat TB are some of the most commonly falsified medicines in the world. Diabetes is recognised as a risk factor for TB, while TB is also understood to worsen glycaemic control in people living with diabetes. Counterfeit medicines for TB therefore have a clear impact on diabetes control.

Furthermore, the sale of illegal and unregulated antibiotics directly contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), making the tools available to treat a person with TB less and less effective.

Fake medicines are deliberately fraudulent drugs that pose a direct risk to patient health and undermine healthcare systems, causing global morbidity and mortality.

For more information please visit Fight the Fakes website via the link below.