ISLAMABAD, April 25: About 40 to 50 per cent of medicines being sold in the country were counterfeit, which might cause prolonged illness or even death of patients, experts warned at a meeting held here on Friday in connection with the World Intellectual Property Rights Day.

They said the global trade of counterfeit drugs had crossed $35 billion.

The experts also spoke on the issue of software piracy and said its incidence in Pakistan was to the extent of 90 per cent.

If the illegal use of software dropped by 20 per cent, Pakistan could attract 100,000 high-tech, high-paying jobs and millions of dollars in foreign investment, they said.

Nearly 65 per cent of the goods being sold in the country were counterfeit, said Dr Saleem Farruk, head of the research team of the Centre for research and Security Studieswhich had organised the event.

He said more than half of the cigarettes sold in Pakistan were counterfeits, causing more that Rs15 billion annual revenue loss to the government.

There were around five dozen licensed cigarette-making units and some two dozen units in Mirupur, Chakwal, Sargodha and the NWFP involved in counterfeiting renowned brands, he said.

He said every creator had the legal right to posses and use his creation and benefit and earn profit from it, whether it was tangible or not.

According to the research team, Pakistan has to respect intellectual property rights if it wants to attract foreign investment, upgrade its technology, increase the wage level and increase competitiveness of its goods in the international market.