[e-drug] Is South Sudan at high risk of bad quality medicines?

e-drug
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E-DRUG: Is South Sudan at high risk of bad quality medicines?
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[I am sure we have E-druggers in WHO or other places that can provide Ahmed with documents and other information. Moderator]

Dear E-druggers,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
As you know in such difficult times of war, specially for a newly
established country like South Sudan with not-yet established policies and
regulations, the risk of unregistered/unqualified medicines to enter the
country is high, which might result in having bad quality medicines to
enter the territory.

I hope if someone give me some insights about this issue, I believe the
issue can be summarized in answering the below questions:

1- Is there a really implemented( not just on paper) procedure for
controlling the imports of pharmaceuticals (poisons and OTC and medical
disposables) at the country ports ( airport and road boarders)?

2- I heard about the harmonization of regulation between some countries
like South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, etc, I was wondering, is
a certificate of registration of a product in a country like Kenya, enough to get the product cleared in South Sudan port, with no testing or
any reviewing procedure for the product and its specifications?

3- Is there a public tender conducted by government or governmental linked
companies for procuring the essential medicines? if yes how much % does it
cover the country need?

4- South Sudan has no sea port, the only way for sending medicines is by
air, or by land from a neighboring country, which will lead to increase of
medicines prices to the poor population because of the high air freight or
the high taxes. this will increase the likelihood of the counterfeiting and
smuggling of bad quality medicines, what do you think the solution for such
an issue.

I hope your teachings will enlighten me.

Thanks
Ahmed
Abdel Wahab
abdelwahab@gmail.com

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E-DRUG: Is South Sudan at high risk of bad quality medicines? (2)
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Dear Mr Abdel Wahab,

Thanks for this posting. I think it is extremely honourable of you to ask for advise on what for most countries is a commonly accepted fact of public health, even if their systems are not perfect. I would like to know what support South Sudan is receiving in this specific area, from say the UN agencies, WHO, World Bank, UNDP, international NGOs and even the private sector. One would hope that at this point in the very short history of your country, you are getting the best support that we all can muster and bring to bear on South Sudan, particularly through any one of the above-mentioned service and policy advisers. These institutions, including any credible private service provider that is familiar with the challenges of public health but with practical knowledge of recommended solutions that is based on many years of experience (positive and negative lessons), will be able to provide good practice in procurement of your essential medicines and good practice in getting them your country through an effective logistics and supply chain service, across any number of borders to your doorstep. So, if these institutions are present in your country, which I believe is the case, the starting point will be to challenge them to provide answers to your questions. These organisations can provide solutions based on the experience I refer to, and in ways that is common to many developing countries. We would, I am sure be happy to learn what those solutions are that they'd furnish you with.

I hope, too, that many e-druggers shall be able to offer your direct experience, ideas, examples of policy directions, regulatory requirements, applicable terms and conditions for procurement, logistics and supply chain management effective enough to enable you to receive quality, safe and effective medicines at all times.

Regards,
Bonnie

Bonface Fundafunda PhD., MBA., B.Pharm
Manager, Drug Supply Budget Line
Ministry of Health,
P.O. Box 30205,
Ndeke House,
Lusaka,
Zambia
Tel: +260 211 25 41 83
Fax: +260 211 25 33 44
Mobile: + 260 979 25 29 00
Email: bcfunda@hotmail.com

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E-DRUG: Is South Sudan at high risk of bad quality medicines? (3)
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Dear Ahmed,

I'm sure your questions could be relevant for dozens of countries in Africa. However, thank you for picking interest in South Sudan, where I currently work and provide TA [ed: technical assistance] to the MOH on various aspects of pharmaceutical management.

Feel free to contact me for further discussion on the topic.

Best regards,
Stephen
stmawa@aim.com

MOH-RSS
Juba, South Sudan

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E-DRUG: Is South Sudan at high risk of bad quality medicines? (6)
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In India, as far as I know, Tamil Nadu is one state which procures generics in bulk at prices up to 200 times less than the market prices and this is done by open tenders. As transportation is not a major issue here, things do arrive at time. This system has beeen running for many years and being lauded by experts.

In spite of in-house winner, many states in India are not having any similar efforts. Many Indian states have people who die or suffer of illnesses and their complications because they cannot afford the treatment. The state of rural, poor tribal people is especially bad.

Some of the links:
http://www.tnmsc.com/tnmsc/new/html/Quality%20Control.php
http://www.tnmsc.com/tnmsc/new/html/tenders.php

Regards,

Bipin Kumar
http://ruralphysician.blogspot.com