Asia is seeing an "epidemic of counterfeits" of life-saving drugs, experts say, and the problem is spreading...53 percent of the anti-malarials bought were fakes...Bogus antibiotics, tuberculosis drugs, AIDS drugs and even meningitis vaccines have also been found...Estimates of the deaths caused by fakes run from tens of thousands a year to 200,000 or more...The temptation for counterfeiters is likely to grow because money to fight malaria is being poured into the Third World. President George W. Bush's $1.2 billion Malaria Initiative avoids the problem by buying directly from Western pharmaceutical companies like Novartis…By contrast, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria gives money directly to poor countries to buy their own drugs, and sends auditors to follow up. But 80 percent of the world's nations, pharmacology experts estimate, lack drug agencies capable of detecting sophisticated counterfeits. [refers to 12 fakes being sold as artesunate malaria pills made by Guilin Pharmaceutical]