UNODC report finds 251 tonnes of medical products seized in Central Africa over six years

6 October 2026

A new report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, produced with the World Health Organization and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, examines the illicit market in medical products. From 2020 through 2025 authorities seized 251 tonnes of medical products in Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic and Chad. Annual seizures rose from about five tonnes in 2020 to nearly 116 tonnes in 2024, before exceeding 97 tonnes in 2025. Cameroon accounted for nearly all seizures recorded in 2025, with 96 tonnes intercepted against just 2.5 tonnes five years earlier. The products ranged from antibiotics and antimalarials to painkillers and psychoactive substances such as tramadol and pregabalin. From 2013 to 2025 WHO surveillance recorded incidents involving 228 medical products in the bloc, of which 71 per cent were classified as falsified and 11 per cent as substandard. In 2023 the WHO universal health-coverage index placed all six countries of the bloc among the world's poorest performers, with Chad scoring 26 out of 100 against a global average of 71.