Abusive use of illicit medicines is widescale in West Africa, especially in the Ivory Coast which is home to an informal pharmaceutical market. The health minister has reported that Abidjan’s Adjamé Roxy market, which trades 30% of the country’s illicit medicine, has gradually become the largest parallel market in the Ivory Coast. The market stands display all sorts of tablets: painkillers, antibiotics, anti-malaria and antiretroviral treatments. The products are sold without packaging and information leaflets. The authorities estimate that there are about 8000 vendors in the market; these are mainly illiterate women with no medical training.
Source : www.lemonde.fr