E-DRUG: Falsified quinine in West Africa
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Dear All
On the 19th of August, the WHO Essential Medicines and Health Products
(EMP) Department released a Medical Product Alert describing falsified
oral quinine antimalarials circulating in West Africa. When taken by
patients with falciparum malaria they will lead to poor patient outcomes
and potentially death.
Quinine Sulfate 300 mg with stated manufacturer 'Novadina Pharmaceutical
Ltd' in Cameroon and Quinine Sulphate 300mg labelled as made by 'CAD
Pharm' in Buni (Democratic Republic of Congo) failed the initial
screening tests and analysis showed that neither product contained any
of the stated active pharmaceutical ingredient.
The full WHO rapid alert is available in English at:
and in French at:
Further information on the quality of antimalarials can be found on the
WWARN Antimalarial Quality literature map ('AQ surveyor') that
visualizes summaries of published reports of antimalarial medicine
quality, displaying their geographical distribution across regions and
over time at:
http://www.wwarn.org/aqsurveyor/#0
Best regards
Céline Caillet
Medicine quality module coordinator
WWARN-IDDO
www.wwarn.org
Celine Caillet <celine.caillet@wwarn.org>