E-DRUG: Popular Science article highlights the global threat of counterfeit medicines
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Dear e-drug members,
A new Popular Science article highlights the serious threat that falsified and substandard medicines present to global public health.
http://www.popsci.com/what-can-we-do-to-stop-fake-medicines
Introduction to the article
In December 2014, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri District saw an outbreak of what appeared to be meningitis. By August, more than 1,000 people had been admitted to clinics, and health workers knew there was something else afoot.
What had at first seemed to be neck stiffness�a common symptom of meningitis�proved to be muscle spasms caused by a mislabeled medicine. An investigation, reported this month in The Lancet Global Health revealed that people had been purchasing tablets they thought were diazepam (the generic name for Valium). But the tablets actually contained an antipsychotic drug called haloperidol, which can prompt involuntary contractions in the face, neck, and arms that are alarming, though rarely life threatening. It's likely that these medicines had been deliberately falsified, the authors concluded.
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Using recent examples from DRC, Paraguay, and Pakistan, the article calls attention to the potential danger that these medicines pose to patients, including causing adverse reactions and treatment failure, increasing morbidity and mortality, and potentially speeding up the development of antimicrobial resistance.
USAID's Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program http://www.usp-pqm.org/ , implemented by the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), is working to address these challenges in low- and middle-income countries by strengthening the regulatory and quality assurance systems that allow for increased availability of quality-assured, safe and effective medicines. USP's VP of International Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Katherine Bond, and the Director of the PQM program, Jude Nwokike, are both quoted in the article.
Full link to article:
http://www.popsci.com/what-can-we-do-to-stop-fake-medicines#page-6
To learn more about USAID's PQM program, please visit:
http://www.usp-pqm.org/
Geeta Tirumalai, MLS
Sr. Manager, Information & Knowledge Management
Market Intelligence and Analysis
12601 Twinbrook Pkwy, MD, 20852, USA
Geeta Tirumalai <GT@usp.org>