GENEVA, May 25, 2006 - Health professionals and officials warned on Thursday that more is being done by governments and industry to deal with the trade in counterfeit CDs than to tackle a growing wave of potentially lethal or harmful counterfeit medicines.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the World Health Organisation's annual assembly, they called for a concerted international drive against the problem.

"There is a growing threat to patient safety in the developed and developing world," said Jo Harkness, of the International Alliance of Patients' Organisations.

In more than half of the cases of counterfeit antibiotics, painkillers and other medicines uncovered in Indonesia last year, the fakes contained little or no active ingredients and were ineffective, said Kustan Tinah of Indonesia's National Agency for Drug and Food Control.

The rest contained other active ingredients or wrong doses and could have added to the suffering of people who are often already ill.

The pharmaceutical industry warned that the scale of the problem appeared to be growing, although the data available is regarded as sparse and incomplete.

Authorities carried out 781 seizures of counterfeit medicines worldwide last year, 40 per cent more than in 2004, according to figures presented by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA).

Seizures took place in 89 countries, compared to 67 a year earlier, with Russia, China, South Korea, Colombia, the United States and Britain topping the list, said IFPMA Director General Harvey Bale.

"The source of counterfeit products seems to be largely from two countries, China and India. They are trying to address the problem because it poses a considerable danger to their own populations," he added.

"While counterfeit CDs have been a high priority, frankly counterfeit medicines haven't," Bale said.

Industry also came under fire during the meeting, amid complaints that high prices for genuine medicines were helping to fuel the illicit trade.

Bale estimated that about one to two per cent of drugs in circulation worldwide were counterfeit, but the proportion rises sharply in developing countries where impoverished patients are desperate for affordable medicines.

"Up to 25 per cent of medicines used in developing countries are counterfeit or substandard," said Judith Oulton of the International Council of Nurses.

Oulton said there was a need to clamp down on the two key sales outlets for counterfeits, street markets in developing nations or the Internet in wealthier countries.