HALMED participated on the regional conference for promoting of MEDICRIME convention
24.06.2014
The regional conference for promoting the MEDICRIME Convention entitled "MEDICRIME Convention: A Key Tool Against Organised Crime” was organised by the Council of Europe and the Macedonian ministries of health and justice from 19 to 20 June 2014 in Skopje. The Head of Agency, Viola Macolić Šarinić, MD, PhD and the Head of OMCL, Rajka Truban Žulj, MPharm participated at the Conference.
The Head of HALMED held a lecture within the conference presenting the current Croatian experience in the field of national and international co-operation of competent health authorities, police and customs in the fight against counterfeit medicines. She emphasised that HALMED was ready for coming into effect of the MEDICRIME Convention and underlined that the signing of the Convention confirmed the importance of anti-counterfeiting measures at the international level for public health purposes.
Apart from HALMED representatives, the President of the Croatian Parliament’s for health and Social policy, Romana Jerković and a judge of the European Court for Human Rights, Ksenija Turković, also participated at the Conference.
HALMED representatives participated also at the time when MEDICRIME Convention for fighting against counterfeit medicines and medical devices was drafted. The Convention was adopted on the 9th December 2010 by the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe. By this Convention, the counterfeiting of medicines and medical device, as well as its manufacturing and placing on the market without adequate authorisation or conformity with the safety requirements are for the first time defined as criminal actions.
The MEDICRIME Convention is the first international mechanism of penal law obliging Member States of the Council of Europe to treat the manufacturing of counterfeit medicines and medical devices, supply, offer and distribution of counterfeit medicines and medical devices , falsification of documents, manufacturing, supply and placing on the market of medicines and medical devices without necessary authorisations or conformity with requirements as criminal actions.
The Convention has been signed by 23 and ratified by three states by now. However, the Convention has yet to come into effect, taking account that a ratification of at least five states is needed. The Republic of Croatia is planning to ratify the Convention by autumn this year.
The Republic of Croatia has implemented the Directive 2011/62/EU (amending the Directive 2001/83EC) on falsified medicines for human use, that came into effect in July 2011. The purpose of the Directive is to prevent the enter of falsified medicines into legal supply chain and dispensation to patients and therefore to improve the protection of European patients and users.
HALMED will continue to intensively co-operate with all Croatian and European competent authorities with the aim of prevention of falsified medicines and medical devices.
The information on the Conference is also accessible from the Croatian Parliament webpages, or here.
