When customs officials in Luanda, Angola, searched a cargo container from China, they found something hidden inside a shipment of loudspeakers: 1.4 million packets of counterfeit Coartem, a malaria drug made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis NOVN.VX +0.56% AG.
去年6月，当安哥拉首都罗安达的海关官员在检查运自中国的一个集装箱时，他们发现了藏在一批扬声器中的140万包假的复方蒿甲醚(Coartem)。复方蒿甲醚是由瑞士制药巨头诺华公司(Novartis)制造的一种抗疟药物。
The discovery, last June, led to one of the largest seizures of phony medicines ever. The fakes─enough to treat more than half the country's annual malaria cases, had they been genuine─are part of a proliferation of bogus malaria drugs in Africa that threatens to undermine years of progress in tackling the disease.
这起偷运事件是有史以来查处的规模最大的假药事件之一。这批假药如果是正品的话，足以治疗安哥拉全年超过半数的疟疾患者。这次事件是非洲愈演愈烈的假药现象的一个缩影，假药很可能会破坏经过数年努力所取得的抗疟成果。
Massive Western aid programs have financed the purchase of millions of doses of Coartem and other antimalaria efforts such as insecticidal nets and spraying. Combined, they have helped bring about a sharp reduction in malaria fatalities, health experts say. Over the past decade, annual deaths from malaria in Africa fell by a third, to about 600,000, according to the World Health Organization.
大规模的西方援助计划提供了用以购买数百万剂量的复方蒿甲醚以及其他抗疟工具的资金，其他的抗疟工具包括蚊帐和杀虫喷雾。卫生专家表示，在多种抗疟手段的综合作用下，因患疟疾而死亡的人数已经大幅降低。据世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)数据，在过去的十年间，非洲每年因患疟疾而死亡的人数降低了三分之一，为大约60万人。
But the blizzard of fakes threatens the progress. 'There could be a reversal' in fighting the disease, Angola's health minister, Jose Van-Dunem, said in an interview, calling fake antimalarials 'a new phenomenon.'
但是，层出不穷的假药事件对抗疟进展构成了危害。安哥拉卫生部长若泽•范杜嫩(Jose Van-Dunem)在一次采访中表示，抗击疟疾的战斗“可能会出现逆转”，他将假冒抗疟药品称作一个“新现象”。
More than one in 10 Angolans is diagnosed with malaria every year, making the drugs a part of everyday life there. The disease can be lethal for pregnant women and children under 5 if unchecked, said Mr. Van-Dunem. While there are no statistics on fatalities possibly linked to fakes, health authorities fear that any deaths related to counterfeits could be mistakenly attributed to other causes.
每年，在十位安哥拉人中，就有一人以上被确诊患有疟疾，这令抗疟药品成为了安哥拉人日常生活的一部分。范杜嫩表示，如果不加医治，疟疾对于孕妇和五岁以下的儿童来说可能是致命的。虽然并没有数据能够说明可能由假药导致的死亡人数，但是卫生部门担心，与假药相关的死亡案例可能会被误解成是由其他因素导致的。
Coartem treatment for adults showing symptoms consists of 24 pills taken over a three-day period. The counterfeits seized in Luanda contained none of the active ingredient in real Coartem. Instead, they were made of calcium phosphates, fatty acids and yellow pigment, according to a copy of a Novartis analysis of the tablets reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
对于出现疟疾症状的成年人，治疗药物为24片复方蒿甲醚，分三天服用。此前在罗安达查获的假药并不包含任何正品复方蒿甲醚中具有的活性成分。《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)见到的一份由诺华公司出具的药品检测的复印件显示，这些假药的成分包括磷酸钙、脂肪酸和黄色素。
The fakes are popular with Luanda street merchants, some of whom are struggling Congolese immigrants who knowingly sell the cheap counterfeits─sometimes for the same price as the genuine drugs.
这些假药很受罗安达街头商贩的欢迎，他们中的一些人是为生活疲于奔命的刚果移民。这些刚果移民明知自己售卖的是廉价假药，他们有时甚至会按正品药物的价格收费。
Large quantities of legitimate Coartem are supplied to Africa through aid programs backed by Western governments, which purchase the drugs from Novartis at or below cost. Some of these tablets are distributed through government health clinics that give them away free, while others are sold by licensed pharmacies for about $5 for a full course of pills. Some of the genuine drugs are stolen from public facilities and wind up for sale at street markets, say local authorities and merchants.
通过由西方国家政府资助的援助项目，非洲获得了大量正规的复方蒿甲醚。西方国家的政府通常能以成本价或者低于成本价的价格直接从诺华购得药品。其中的一些复方蒿甲醚是通过政府开设的健康诊所免费发放的，还有一些由拥有执照的药房以一个疗程约五美元的价格售卖。当地的政府部门和商户表示，一些流落到街头被贩卖的正品药物是从公共医疗部门偷盗出来的。
Whether genuine, fake or stolen, antimalarials are highly visible at the markets. They are typically displayed alongside Chinese-manufactured bluejeans, shoes, wheelbarrows and power generators. Customers weave their way around goats, wild dogs and ponds of putrid water, walking atop tracks made of crushed soda cans, cardboard and plastic bags.
无论是真药、假药还是被盗的药品，抗疟药物在市场上比比皆是。这些药品通常会摆放在摊位上，和中国制造的牛仔裤、鞋子、独轮手推车和发电机一起出售。顾客们在山羊、野狗和臭水坑随处可见的小路上迂回穿行，路上丢满了压扁了的饮料罐、纸板箱和塑料袋。
Some sellers acknowledge knowing that some of their pills are copies, but many maintain they are still effective at treating malaria. 'It's good quality,' Congolese street seller Pierre Masamba said of the Coartem-labeled pills he was selling.
有些卖家承认，他们清楚自己售卖的药物中有假冒药品，但是很多卖家坚称，自己出售的药品仍然能有效治愈疟疾。来自刚果的街头小贩皮埃尔•马沙姆巴(Pierre Masamba)在谈到他出售的贴有复方蒿甲醚标志的药品时说：“这个药质量很好。”
Mr. Masamba said they were 'Chinese copies' but thought they contained active ingredient. Upon learning they didn't work, he said 'I have no equipment to analyze them so I can't know if they work or not.'
马沙姆巴称，他卖的复方蒿甲醚的确是“中国仿制品”，但他认为这些药中含有活性成分。在得知这些药没有疗效后，他说：“我没有检测药品的设备，所以我不可能知道它们是否有效。”
A study published last year by the Lancet medical journal and conducted by a unit of the National Institutes of Health found that 35% of 2,300 malaria drug samples tested in sub-Saharan Africa were of 'poor quality'─either fake, expired or badly made. Such pills 'are very likely to jeopardize the unprecedented progress and investments in control and elimination of malaria,' the paper's authors concluded.
去年在医学期刊《柳叶刀》(Lancet)上发表的一篇研究报告指出，在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲地区抽取的2,300份抗疟药物的样本中，有35%的药物都“质量不佳”──它们或是假药、过期药，或是劣质药。这项调查是由美国国立卫生研究院(National Institutes of Health)旗下的一家分支机构进行的。这篇研究报告的作者们总结道，这样的药品“极有可能会危害到在控制和消灭疟疾上所取得的前所未有的成果及相关投资”。
A spot-check of pills by The Wall Street Journal found mixed results. At a market in Northern Luanda, the paper purchased samples from different vendors, with the knowledge of local authorities, and sent them for testing to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an independent facility. Three samples, described by sellers as copies that were effective, turned out to be fake and lacking Coartem's active ingredients. Three others, described as Coartem, were the genuine drug.
由《华尔街日报》进行的复方蒿甲醚抽样检测发现药品质量参差不齐。在通知当地政府部门后，《华尔街日报》工作人员在罗安达北部的一个市场上从不同的药品卖主手中采购了样品，并将药品送到了独立机构伦敦卫生与热带医学院(London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)进行检测。据卖主称具有疗效的三款仿制药样品经检测被证实是假药，并不具备复方蒿甲醚应有的活性成分。另外三款据卖主称是复方蒿甲醚的样品则被证实是正品。
Julia Francisco, 29, who was shopping for medicine at a market where cheap counterfeit malaria drugs have been found, said Coartem costs too much in pharmacies─and isn't always available through other legitimate outlets. 'We can't find it at hospitals,' she said.
29岁的茱莉亚•弗朗西斯科(Julia Francisco)表示，药房中出售的复方蒿甲醚价格太高，并且通过其他正规渠道并不总是能找到这种药物。弗朗西斯科曾经在一个发现过廉价假冒抗疟药品的市场上购买过复方蒿甲醚。她说：“我们在医院里买不到这种药。”
Nongovernmental organizations and the health minister deny there is a shortage. 'Antimalaria [treatments] are in sufficient quantity in hospitals,' said Mr. Van-Dunem in an interview. If people buy the drugs in markets, he said, it is for reasons of convenience.
安哥拉的几家非政府组织以及卫生部长均否认药品存在短缺现象。范杜嫩在一次采访中表示：“医院中的抗疟用药数量充足。”他说，人们选择在市场上买药是出于方便的考虑。
At hospitals, 'they have to go for a prescription. They have to wait. So it's easier' to procure at markets, said Mr. Van-Dunem.
范杜嫩表示，在医院里，“人们获得药品需要医生开具处方。患者必须要等。因此，更简单的方法就是”到市场上采买。
Though the sale of fakes is illegal, counterfeit manufacturers, intermediaries and street traders are subject to little local enforcement, according to Angolan officials, who say they are working to strengthen anticounterfeit laws, but haven't provided any details.
据安哥拉官员称，虽然售卖假药是违法的，但假冒药品制造商、中间商和街头商贩却几乎没有受到地方执法部门的管制。安哥拉官员还表示，他们正致力于强化打击假药的法律，但是并未提供任何细节。
Coartem isn't the only malaria drug available in Angola. But it is the most widely used because it is a relatively new form of treatment that global health authorities consider more effective than previous generations of medicine.
复方蒿甲醚并不是安哥拉唯一的抗疟药物，但却是最普遍应用的抗疟药物，因为复方蒿甲醚是一种相对较新的药品，全球的卫生权威机构也认为它比前几代药物更为有效。
Novartis, which doesn't break out profits for individual products, says it is concerned about the damage the Coartem fakes could do to patients. 'Counterfeiting medicines is a serious crime against patients who rely on safe and quality-assured medicines to prevent and cure disease, alleviate pain and save lives,' the company said in an emailed statement.
诺华公司表示，其对假冒复方蒿甲醚药品可能给患者带来的危害非常担忧。该公司并未披露旗下每种药品的获利信息。诺华公司在一份电子邮件声明中表示：“对于有赖于安全和质量有保证的药品来预防和治疗疾病、缓解痛苦及挽救生命的患者，造假药是一种严重的罪行。”
Novartis said it is 'collaborating with partners in government, industry and law enforcement' to fight counterfeits. It has also added new security features on its packaging to make copies more difficult to produce.
诺华公司表示，该公司“正通过与政府、业界和执法部门的合作伙伴一起携手”来打击假冒药品。此外，该公司已经在药品包装上添加了新的防伪标志，让假冒产品更难以模仿。
The company is also concerned about how fakes might impact its credibility. 'Reports of adverse reactions…could materially affect patient confidence in the authentic product, and harm the business of companies such as ours,' the company says in its latest annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
诺华公司还担心，假冒药品可能影响公司的信誉。该公司在递交给美国证券交易委员会(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)的上一财年的年度报告中称：“有关药品不良反应的报告……可能会严重影响患者对诺华正品的信心，并对包含诺华在内的诸家公司的业务构成危害。”
An examination of the path traveled by the bogus Coartem seized in Luanda traces it through a smuggling route that ships counterfeits from China's bustling trading hub of Guangzhou to the street markets of Africa.
通过追踪在罗安达查获的假冒复方蒿甲醚的运输过程，有关方面发现了一条走私途径：假药从中国繁忙的贸易枢纽广州发货，终点是非洲各地的街头市场。
Customs records show the fake Coartem was shipped from China by a Guangzhou freight company called Starway International Ltd., whose listed address is a drab building also occupied by a record company.
海关记录显示，假冒复方蒿甲醚由一家名为Starway国际有限公司(Starway International Ltd.)的广州货运公司从中国发出，这家公司的注册地址是一栋外立面为米黄色的建筑物，一家唱片公司也注册在那里。
Aben Iduku Hubert, the owner of the company, is a Congolese businessman who divides his time between Guangzhou and Congo. He confirmed in a phone interview that he is the owner of Starway International Ltd. Both he and Starway's day-to-day manager, Robert Ngapa, who is based in Guangzhou, said they didn't know the loudspeakers contained medicine, and were unaware that the cargo had been seized. 'You are the first to tell me [about the seizure],' Mr. Aben said. 'We don't export medicine.'
Starway的老板阿贝•伊度库•休伯特(Aben Iduku Hubert)是一位往返于广州和刚果之间的刚果商人。他在电话采访中证实，他的确是Starway的老板。但是他本人以及该公司驻广州管理日常事务的经理罗伯特•恩格帕(Robert Ngapa)都表示，他们并不知道扬声器中藏有药品，也不清楚这批货物已被扣押。阿贝对记者表示：“你是第一个告诉我（货物被扣押）的人。我们公司并不出口药品。”
Messrs. Aben and Ngapa are part of a growing diaspora of African traders involved in the export of goods from Guangzhou. Mr. Aben says he arrived in China in 1988 as a student, before setting up a freight company that ships Chinese products to Africa. He says his company ships everything from loudspeakers to shoes to television sets and wigs.
在广州从事商品出口的非洲商人越来越多，阿贝和恩格帕就是其中的两位。阿贝称，他于1988年以学生身份来到中国，之后开立了这间把中国商品运输到非洲的货运公司。他说，他公司运输的货品多种多样，从扬声器到鞋子、从电视机到假发应有尽有。
Angolan police are now investigating Mr. Aben and his company Starway─along with several men based in Luanda─over any potential role in shipping the fakes, according to an Angolan police official. Mr. Aben, who the official said hasn't been charged with a crime, said he was unaware of the investigation, had not been contacted by any enforcement authorities and had committed no crime.
据一位安哥拉警官称，该国警方现在正在就涉嫌运输假药调查阿贝和他的公司Starway，同时接受调查的还有罗安达的几名男性。该警官表示，阿贝未被警方指控。而阿贝称，他对于相关调查毫不知情，没有任何执法部门曾与他取得过联系，自己也从来没有犯过罪。
Angolan police have not contacted Chinese authorities, according to the Angolan police official. An Angolan police spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
据这位警官称，安哥拉警方没有联系中国有关部门。记者未能联系到安哥拉警方的新闻发言人就此置评。
Such counterfeits are collateral damage from the fast-expanding ties that have turned China into Africa's largest trading partner. In recent years, Beijing has clinched massive deals to import African oil in exchange for building roads and housing on the continent. The value of trades is estimated to have doubled to more than $200 billion last year, according to China's commerce ministry.
上述假冒药品事件是中非关系迅猛发展所带来的附带损害，现在，中国已经成为了非洲最大的贸易伙伴。近几年来，中国政府已经与非洲国家签署了大量进口非洲石油的协议，作为交换条件，中国帮助非洲修建了很多公路和房屋。中国商务部(China's Commerce Ministry)公布的数据显示，去年中非双边贸易额增加了约一倍，达到了2,000亿美元以上。
The trade relationship between China and the continent has also strengthened on less formal levels. A variety of vendors peddle cheap goods to African street markets from Guangzhou, population 13 million. The traders live there in an area known for its large concentration of Africans, where they can access wholesale leather, clothes, bags, sneakers and jeans─and anything else their clients in Luanda or Lagos crave.
中非之间的民间贸易往来也得到了加强。在非洲街头市场上，形形色色的商贩叫卖着从人口达1,300万的广州运来的廉价商品。而广州也有一个以聚居了大量非洲商人而闻名的区域，在那里，他们可以批发到皮革、服装、箱包、帆布鞋和牛仔裤──以及其他一切他们在罗安达或拉各斯的客户所需的商品。
The neighborhood is like a microcosm of Congolese daily life. Local cafes serve goat, beans and fufu, a starchy staple made from vegetables. Diners speak loudly in French and Lingala─the lingua franca of the Democratic Republic of Congo─to the sound of Soukous, a popular music in the African country.
非洲商人在广州聚居的区域就像是刚果日常生活的缩影。当地的咖啡馆供应羊肉、豆子和芙芙(fufu)──一种植物淀粉类主食。伴随着风靡刚果的苏库斯乐曲声，食客们大声地说着法语和刚果民主共和国的通用语言林加拉语。
It isn't known where the fake Coartem was manufactured. But on April 24 of last year, it set out on a two-month sea voyage from Guangzhou to Luanda, according to customs records. The container carrying the counterfeits was unloaded in Luanda along with pornographic DVDs─also hidden in the loudspeakers─and a grab bag of other, legitimate goods: bras, sofas, tricycles, hair extensions and keyboards destined for a local church, according to a customs inventory of the cargo. Messrs. Aben and Ngapa said they didn't know the loudspeakers contained illegal pornographic DVDs or fake drugs.
对于假冒复方蒿甲醚的生产地点，目前尚不得而知。但据海关记录显示，这批假药是在去年4月24日通过海运从广州发往罗安达的，货物于两个月后抵达。一份海关货物清单显示，在这个于罗安达卸下的装有假药的集装箱内还发现了色情DVD，也藏在扬声器中。此外，这个集装箱中还有一些其他的正规货物：胸罩、沙发、三轮车、接发以及发给当地一家教堂的键盘乐器。阿贝和恩格帕称，他们并不知道扬声器中藏有非法色情DVD和假药。
According to customs documents, the container was consigned to a small-time trader, Felipe Pembele, who says his firm makes a brisk business of importing cheap Chinese goods to the streets of Luanda, population five million. Angolan police and customs officials also confirmed the details about the goods shipped and their recipient.
海关文件显示，该集装箱的收货人是生意规模较小的贸易商菲利普•潘贝拉(Felipe Pembele)。潘贝拉表示，他的公司从中国进口廉价商品并在人口500万的罗安达街头贩卖，公司生意非常红火。安哥拉警方和海关官员也证实了有关集装箱内所运货品和收货人的细节信息。
Mr. Pembele's firm, General Trade Organizations Filemos Ltd., is based in a room in his home in Luanda, just behind a line of freshly hung laundry. Visited there, Mr. Pembele acknowledged importing goods from China, but said he didn't know the container concealed the DVDs or drugs, let alone fake ones. 'I don't deal in medicine,' he said.
这家由潘贝拉所有的公司名为General Trade Organizations Filemos Ltd.，该公司的办公地点就位于潘贝拉在罗安达家中的一个房间内，房间外挂满了刚洗好的衣物。在家中接受记者采访的时候，潘贝拉承认自己的公司从中国进口商品，但表示他并不知道集装箱中藏匿了DVD和药品，更不要说假药了。他说：“我并不买卖药品。”
The intended recipient of the loudspeakers containing the fake Coartem, according to Mr. Pembele and a top Angolan police official, was a Luanda pharmaceutical distributor named Antonio Kinavuidi.
据潘贝拉和安哥拉的一位高级警官称，藏有假冒复方蒿甲醚的扬声器的收货人是罗安达的一位药品分销商，他的名字是安东尼奥•齐纳沃迪(Antonio Kinavuidi)。
Mr. Pembele and Mr. Kinavuidi were briefly arrested and questioned over the counterfeit shipments but were subsequently released, according to an official at the economic police and Mr. Pembele. The two men haven't been charged, according to an Angolan economic police official and Mr. Pembele.
据一位经济警察和潘贝拉本人称，潘贝拉和齐纳沃迪都曾被短暂拘留，并因假药运输事件受到了询问，不过两人随后均被释放。据安哥拉的一位经济警察和潘贝拉本人称，潘贝拉和齐纳沃迪都没有被指控。
A visit to Mr. Kinavuidi's pharmacy showed it continued to operate as normal. He couldn't be reached to comment by phone or email. Angolan police said Mr. Kinavuidi doesn't have a lawyer because he hasn't been charged.
记者拜访了齐纳沃迪的药店，发现这家药店仍然在正常营业。记者未能通过电话或邮件联系到齐纳沃迪就此事置评。安哥拉警方称，齐纳沃迪没有律师，因为他未获指控。
China's foreign ministry said the country 'has always attached great importance to drug safety and resolutely combats the…manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines.' The ministry added that it is 'not aware' of evidence that any fake Coartem found in Africa came from China.
中国外交部(China's Foreign Ministry)表示，中国“一直高度重视药品安全问题，并且坚决打击……假药的制售行为”。中国外交部还称，并“没有察觉到”任何有关在非洲发现的假冒复方蒿甲醚从中国流出的证据。
Exports of counterfeits from China to Africa are difficult to investigate because they involve large, opaque networks. Mr. Pembele said he acted as intermediary for a group of Luanda businessmen who had joined forces to buy various goods from China. 'Clients don't always say what they buy so I have had bad surprises. You can never trust people,' he said.
从中国出口到非洲的假药难以调查，因为这涉及到了庞大并且不透明的运输网络。潘贝拉表示，他担当的角色相当于那些合伙从中国购买各种商品的罗安达商人的中间人。他说：“客户有时并不会说明所购货品的种类，因此我见过一些完全意想不到的事情。你永远都不能相信别人。”
In another seizure last year, Nigeria's pharmaceutical enforcement agency, working with Novartis, confiscated 40 cartons of fake Coartem packets stored at a consumer-electronics shop in Lagos, the country's economic capital. Shipping documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show the counterfeits came from a Nigerian trader based in Guangzhou.
去年，尼日利亚的药品监督部门和诺华公司联手查获了另一起假药案件，共没收了40箱存放在拉各斯一家消费电子产品商店内的假冒复方蒿甲醚。拉各斯是尼日利亚的经济中心。《华尔街日报》见到的货运文件显示，这批假药来自一位驻广州的尼日利亚贸易商。
Counterfeit Coartem has also been found and seized in Guangzhou itself. In February 2012, the Chinese police and the Chinese Food and Drug Administration seized 600 boxes of fake packets of the drug─enough to treat 18,000 patients─in two lorries in Guangzhou, according to a private investigator familiar with the haul.
假冒复方蒿甲醚也曾在广州被发现和查处过。据一位知情私人调查人员称，2012年2月，中国警方和中国食品药品监督管理局(Chinese Food and Drug Administration)在广州的两辆货车内查获了600箱假冒药品，这批药品足以用于18,000名患者的治疗。
The fake Coartem found in Luanda, Lagos and Guangzhou appeared to be manufactured specifically for the African market. The counterfeits all carried the logo of Nigeria's medicines regulator, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control─which is used as a stamp of approval for authentic Coartem throughout the continent.
在罗安达、拉各斯和广州发现的假冒复方蒿甲醚似乎都是为非洲市场特别定制的。这些假冒药品的包装上都印有尼日利亚药监部门尼日利亚食品药品监督管理局(National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control)的标志，这一标志的使用代表着包装内的复方蒿甲醚是获准在非洲大陆流通的正品。
The fakes in all three countries also used expiration dates that ended 24 months after the alleged date of manufacture instead of the usual 23 months for genuine Coartem.
在上述三个国家发现的假冒复方蒿甲醚标注的保质期都是所谓的药品制造日期后的24个月，而正品复方蒿甲醚的保质期通常都是23个月。
In Luanda, the health ministry is setting up laboratories to spot-check medicine in an effort to find counterfeits. But many Angolan health and police officials complain their hands are tied.
安哥拉卫生部正在罗安达建造用于药品抽查的实验室，此举旨在查处境内的伪劣药品。但是，很多安哥拉的卫生官员和警察都抱怨称，他们对此感到无能为力。
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