E-DRUG: Electronic Listing of Registered Products?
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Dear colleagues,
I have been recently pleased to learn about and actually download an electronic file of the medicines registered in Uganda which, I understand, is updated every two months or so. It seems to me that a lot of "digital" progress may have taken place in developing countries that much older practitioners like me may not be aware of.
Could someone tell me of a source where one can find
(a) a listing of countries with electronic databases on their medicines registration status and
(b) whether such data are in the public domain.
This will be a very useful resource for those of us in medicines procurement, because more and more countries formerly not so stringent on their registration requirement are revving up, and rightly so. Getting timely and consistent information has frequently been a bottle neck; a familiar response in the past when one asks a regulatory authority if you could have a copy of the registered products is "you tell me the product you want to check for, and I will tell you whether or not it is registered"!
In a few worst cases, the list of registered medicines was usually mixed up with the National List of Medicines. It seems to me that dividends from earlier investments, credit to all, including yours truly; e-drug, are showing up!!!
Murtada M. Sesay
Technical Officer (Pharmaceuticals)
UNICEF Supply Division
UNICEF Plads, Freeport
DK-2100
Denmark
Telephone: +45 3527 3098
Facsimile: +45 3526 9421
E-mail: msesay@unicef.org.