[e-drug] shortage of ACTs and other pharmaceuticals

e-drug
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E-DRUG: shortage of ACTs and other pharmaceuticals
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"Maybe we should also discuss how the international community got into
this crisis, and what could have been done to prevent this? The debate
is open! WB"

Dear E-Drug members,

But isn't the threat in fact much wider than the ACTs? I can only assume
that the GFATM has a process whereby they total up the projected needs of
ARVs, TB meds, ACTs etc for all of their programs -- but is this
information being relayed to the pharmaceutical manufacturers? And is this
in turn being relayed to the chemical manufacturers?

Furthermore, with more donors making resources available for medicine
delivery programs, is there any sort of "global" total around? That is,
has anyone calculated the projected total needs for the GFATM, PEPFAR, the
Clinton Foundation, etc, and relayed this information to the manufacturers?

If not, then we're in trouble. Shortages means several things: increased
morbidity and mortality, but also increased costs (as demand drives up
price). Do these donor programs allow for re-budgeting as prices increase?

So what could be done to prevent this? How about a nice, transparent
website that keeps a running total of estimated pharmaceutical needs of all
these programs, and contrasts that with expected production levels of both
molecules (or, in the case of ACT, vines) and pills? Of does it exist and
I haven't found it yet?

Regards,

Libby Levison
Pharmaceutical management consultant
libby@theplateau.com

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E-DRUG: shortage of ACTs and other pharmaceuticals (2)
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dear E-druggers

Shortages also mean there will be an increased likelihood of noncompliance
and the related problem of "resistance" to chemotherapeutic agents; a scary
word to contemplate in ACT hope land!! But let not this divert us from the
real issues which Libby and WB raise," How can we prevent this from
happening again". This assumes of course that the malaria control community
will rapidly resolve the current problem.

Murtada M. Sesay
Copenhagen, Denmark
msesay@unicef.org