• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Lives at Risk as Trafficking in Faulty Masks, Other Gear Surges: UN

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
07/08/20
in World
A women wears a mouth mask amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Prices of masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes have skyrocketed. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Lives are at risk as the new coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in the trafficking of substandard masks, sanitizers, and other medical products, the UN warned Wednesday.

Organized criminal groups — exploiting fears and uncertainties surrounding the virus — are providing such products to cater to a sudden surge in demand and the supply gap, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report.

UNODC said it expected criminals to shift their focus to vaccine-related trafficking once one was developed.

Organized Crime at Work

Fraud and scams, as well as cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, have followed the spread of the virus, it added.

“Health and lives are at risk with criminals exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to cash in on public anxiety and increased demand for personal protective equipment and medications,” UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said in a statement.

“Transnational organized crime groups take advantage of gaps in national regulation and oversight to peddle substandard and falsified medical products.”

A man wearing a face mask looks at his phone in the New York metro during the coronavirus outbreak.
The United States is the worst-hit country. Photo: Johannes Eisele, AFP

An Interpol-coordinated operation to target illegal online sales of medicines and medical products with the participation of 90 countries in March led to 121 arrests worldwide and the seizure of substandard and fake face masks, as well as more than $14 million worth of potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products, the report said.

Compared to an earlier 2018 operation, Interpol reported an increase of about 18 percent in seizures of unauthorized antiviral medication and a more than 100 percent increase in seizures of unauthorized chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug used to treat coronavirus patients in some countries.

UNODC called for increased international cooperation, strengthened legal frameworks and penalties, and more training for those who work in the medical product sector, saying “only a common approach will enable effective responses.”

“We need to help countries increase cooperation to close gaps, build law enforcement and criminal justice capacity, and drive public awareness to keep people safe,” Waly said.

The UNODC report, which is a “preliminary assessment”, builds on information the body has collected from responses submitted by member states, its own field offices and analysis of open sources, official evidence, media, and institutional reports.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

A woman undergoing COVID test in China
Featured

Soaring Covid Cases Shine Light on China’s Healthcare Gap

by Staff Writer
January 11, 2023
European Medicines Agency
World

EU Watchdog Approves Second Covid Booster for Over 80s

by Staff Writer
April 6, 2022
WHO
World

WHO Urges Rich Countries to Pay Up for Covid Plan

by Staff Writer
February 9, 2022
Mask making
National

US Sets Global Record of Over 1 Mn Daily Covid-19 Cases

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2022
Israel Covid vaccine
World

Israel ‘Leads the Way’ With 4th Covid Jabs for Vulnerable

by Staff Writer
December 31, 2021
Humanitarian worker places a face mask on a child refugee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opinion

As COVID-19 Lingers, Wealthy Nations Must Not Abandon Migrants

by Maria DeJesus
December 21, 2021
Next Post
Chinese paramilitary policemen patrol the Potala Palace in China's Tibet Autonomous Zone

US and China Impose Reciprocal Visa Restrictions Over Tibet Row

A girl participating in an International Women's Day protest in Mexico City in 2017 holds up a poster reading 'No quiero que me maten.' ('I don't want to be killed.')

Silence and Gendered Violence in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023
A flooded road in Batu Berendam in Malaysia's southern coastal state of Malacca

At Least Four Dead, Tens of Thousands Evacuated in Malaysia Floods

March 6, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post