'Fake medicine' allegations against China ill-disposed

Some Western media outlets have recently hatched out a multitude of much-hyped reports accusing China of selling counterfeit medications in Africa.

The volley of attacks started when British newspaper The Guardian alleged in a front-page story late December that China was exporting a large number of fake or substandard anti-malaria drugs to Uganda and Tanzania.

Probably no other words than "suspicion" can sum up the story more suitably, as it offered no confirmed data to support the accusation, except for quotes from a few people.

One interviewee's words seemed to have shed light on the origin of the groundless accusation. An official from Uganda's National Drug Authority told The Guardian he believed the fake drugs came from China because "China is entering the African market with everything ... To bring in as many of their own products as possible in every possible level of quality."

Under this logic, when a scandal of poisonous fish and chips in Africa erupts, one can surely know who should be blamed, since the British people are notoriously famous for their lack of imagination in cuisine with the two as their staple diet.

After an investigation, Xinhua reporters found a number of local businessmen manufactured and sold fake anti-malaria drugs in the name of Chinese ones. In Uganda, anti-malaria drugs manufactured by Chinese factories have been rigorously examined by local drug regulatory agencies.

As the World Health Organization has warned, more than 10 percent of drugs sold in developing countries may be counterfeit. The situation is even worse in parts of Asia and Africa.

However, saying as many as one-third of malaria drugs in Uganda and Tanzania are fake or substandard, with "most believed to originate in China" is a blurry and baseless accusation that uses China as a scapegoat for everything that could affect drug supply.

Such negative depiction of China's role in Africa corresponds to a popular but imprecise perception in the West that China is offering generous support to Africa with a "hidden agenda."

The opinionated, interest-driven conclusion reflects the West's uneasiness with China's growing economic prowess, rising international status, and closer ties with African countries.

Despite being a developing country itself, China is joining the global efforts to cure infectious diseases in Africa, giving free drugs, sending medical teams and equipment, and building hospitals to save as many lives there as it can.

China has sent 17,000 medical personnel to Africa and cured more than 200 million Africans since 1963, playing a vital role in improving Africa's medical care and public health services.

To fight counterfeit drugs, countries must step up border control, address international organized crime, empower national medicine regulation, among other measures, to ensure delivery of effective anti-malaria drugs.

Rather than attempting to tarnish China's image in Africa, Western countries should join in the global crackdown on counterfeit drug trade to ensure that safe and effective medicines are delivered to malaria patients in Africa.