Instructing your society: how to avoid illegal medicines

Peru - the National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI in Spanish), destroyed almost two tonnes of expired and empty packaging of medicines (click here for the INDECOPI's news).

The campaign started back in 2007 by the INDECOPI together with pharmacies. It consists in installing special containers in pharmacies and chemist’s shops, where consumers can go and dispose of empty or unused packaging of medicines. This is the third time the destruction has taken place and, compared to previous years (1 ½ tonne in 2007 and the same in 2008), it appears that consumers are becoming more aware and involved in the campaign.

This is a cooperative effort that teaches consumers how to safely dispose medications, but to the INDECOPI, it is a situation of avoiding the reuse of packaging and thus counterfeit.

I give INDECOPI’s movement the thumbs up.