Ladies, gentlemen and betweens!
This article is coiled from the Daily Observer and I see it as rather 
hypocritical.

Lamtoroh

CPAG slams ‘unethical drug promotion’

Written by Alhagie Jobe

Friday, 16 March 2007

The Consumer Protection Association of The Gambia (CPAG), has joined the 
list of international consumer organisations in strongly condemning 
‘unethical drug promotion’.

The CPAG made this condemnation in observance of the World Consumer Rights 
Day. The CPAG asserted that consumers health must come first above corporate 
profit.
The CPAG Gambia made this condemnation yesterday at a one day validation 
seminar on the review of Consumer Protection-related Laws of The Gambia, 
alongside the commemoration of the World Consumer Rights Day at the Sun 
Beach Hotel in Cape Point.

In a statement issued at the seminar, Katim Touray, a member of the Consumer 
Protection Association of the Gambia, said the unethical drug promotion, 
affects mostly poor countries such as The Gambia, who are often victims of 
unscrupulous drug promotion programmes by wealthy multinational companies.
“World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) has had a rich history, and impacted the 
lives of millions of people around the world. The origin of WCRD are rooted 
in a 1962 declaration by John F. Kennedy, former USA President of four basic 
rights namely, the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to 
choose and the right to be heard.

In addition to these, the global consumer movement, through Consumer 
International (CI), added four rights namely the right to satisfaction of 
basic needs, the right to redress, the right to education and the right to a 
healthy environment,” he said.
According to him, the UN General Assembly also adopted the UN Guideline for 
Consumer Protection in 1985, which was a culmination of a decade of advocacy 
and lobbying by Consumer International and other consumer organisations. He 
added that these UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection, are doubly 
important, because they embrace the eight consumer rights, and provide a 
framework for strengthening national consumer protection policies.

Mr Touray added that unethical drug promotion is a pertinent issue to be 
discuss because as consumers are not aware of the fact that their drug 
consumption choices are shaped more by corporate profit motives, than sound 
health care delivery. For this reason, he added, the Consumer International 
is working with consumer organisations around the world to hold governments 
and pharmaceutical companies accountable for unethical drug promotion and 
advertising that values corporate profits more than consumer health.

“The WCRD campaign follows up on a 2006 report on corporate responsibility 
and drug promotion aimed at holding them accountable for their compliance 
with global codes on ethical drug promotion, hold governments responsible 
rigorous enforcement of drug promotion regulations with a view towards 
protecting consumer rights to safety and information and to improve consumer 
access to drug and health information that is credible, reliable and 
transparent” he said.

According to him, despite the many unethical drug promotions, there is one 
thing promoters share in common which is, they can create an impression of 
legitimacy and independence and frequently misinform consumers about the 
drugs they buy which is clearly unethical.
Mr Touray stated that drug companies also promote false or misleading claims 
about drugs, deliberate suppress risks and adverse side effect of their 
drugs and provide financial incentives to doctors who prescribed their 
patients. The consequence of these unethical practices, he said, often is 
irrational drug use by consumers, increased health risk and sometimes 
fatalities.He then stated that the response in The Gambia towards unethical 
drug promotions must be seen and urged every one to join the battle for 
greater awareness of, respect for and enforcement of consumer rights and 
protection in The Gambia.

For her part, Fatou Kinteh, a member of CPAG said drug companies are money 
making corporations with the aim of making profits. She noted that the 
over-arching aim of corporate drug promotion is also to increase profits by 
rising consumer demand for pharmaceutical products.
According to her, consumers have every right to know about everything 
regarding the drugs they take assuring that CPAG will forge partnership with 
relevant government institutions and departments in protecting the right of 
consumers in The Gambia.
Dr Omar Touray, a member of CPAG also assured that CPAG will continue to 
endeavour to be the leading advocate for the voice of the consumer rights 
and to contribute and ensure that consumers are provided with quality and 
sound products.

Baba Mustapha Marong, Coordinator of the Gambia Interface Capacity Building 
Project (GICAP), assured of his institution’s resolve commitment to 
collaborate with CPAG. He noted that consumer rights and protection issues 
needs to be brought to the attention of states and governments noting that 
citizens also have a role to play  in order to partner with the states in 
informing and influencing public policy and creating knowledge and 
communities of practices that will enable them to make inform choices in the 
market.

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