Substandard medicines in resource-poor settings: A problem that can no longer be ignored
Affiliation
Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland; AEDES Foundation, Brussels, BelgiumIssue Date
2008-07-08Submitted date
2008-08-28
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The circulation of substandard medicines in the developing world is a serious clinical and public health concern. Problems include under or over concentration of ingredients, contamination, poor quality ingredients, poor stability and inadequate packaging. There are multiple causes. Drugs manufactured for export are not regulated to the same standard as those for domestic use, while regulatory agencies in the less-developed world are poorly equipped to assess and address the problem. A number of recent initiatives have been established to address the problem, most notably the WHO pre-qualification programme. However, much more action is required. Donors should encourage their partners to include more explicit quality requirements in their tender mechanisms, while purchasers should insist that producers and distributors supply drugs that comply with international quality standards. Governments in rich countries should not tolerate the export of substandard pharmaceutical products to poor countries, while developing country governments should improve their ability to detect substandard medicines.PubMed ID
18631318Additional Links
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120747094/abstractType
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
1365-3156ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/j.1365-3156.2008.02106.x
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Spurious and counterfeit drugs: a growing industry in the developing world.
- Authors: Gautam CS, Utreja A, Singal GL
- Issue date: 2009 May
- Pilot study of essential drug quality in two major cities in India.
- Authors: Bate R, Tren R, Mooney L, Hess K, Mitra B, Debroy B, Attaran A
- Issue date: 2009 Jun 23
- Impact of poor-quality medicines in the 'developing' world.
- Authors: Newton PN, Green MD, Fernández FM
- Issue date: 2010 Mar
- [Quality of medicines in least developed countries].
- Authors: Videau JY
- Issue date: 2006 Dec
- New countermeasures considered as drug counterfeiting grows.
- Authors: Schubert C
- Issue date: 2008 Jul