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How to spot fake drugs with a mobile phone

Mobile phones and apps are being used to detect fake medicines and save lives.

Fake medicines are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. But inventors around the world are coming up with ways to spot the fakes.

In Nigeria, pharmacists are using a pocket-sized nanoscanner and mobile app to analyse light shone through a pill, powder or liquid.

A Ghanaian entrepreneur has developed a way to verify a barcode or a series of numbers on a box of medicine, using a mobile phone.

And in Finland, you can take photos of your medicine and get a detailed analysis of the packaging, pill or powder, to find out if it鈥檚 authentic or not.

Presented and produced by Hannah Gelbart

Image: Fake medicine

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24 minutes

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