Monday, Dr. Florence Duperval Guillaume, the Minister of Health in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Port au Prince and the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti (AmCham Haiti) in the presence of representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has proceeded to the official launch of an awareness campaign on the rational use of medicines.

This awareness campaign which will run around su theme "My health is my highest good, I will always buy my medicines in pharmacies authorized by the Ministry of Health" aims to reduce the informal import the illegal sale and counterfeiting of medicines throughout the country.

It should, among other things, through constraining measures discourage manufacturers and retailers of those products that constitute a real danger to the health of the population.

"Buying medicines in the streets and in unrecognized pharmacies by MSPP is a suicidal act," declared the Minister Guillaume, who announced that further measures will be taken in parallel, to enable people to have access to effective medicines at reasonable prices.

In his speech, John P. Higgins, the representative of the American Embassy emphasized the dangers of counterfeit medicines on health. As for Dr. Zoulhika Faraj, the representative of PAHO/WHO, she believes that multi-sectoral strategies for acting on the consumer are necessaries, both by awareness campaigns and health education, that in making medicines more accessible.

This awareness campaign will run for three months and will include public service announcements broadcast on several radio across the country and "robots" messages which will be transmitted through the national phone networks (via SMS), to more than one million people.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre