promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world advancing the fight against counterfeit...
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Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
Advancing the fight against counterfeit medicines
Ms. Regina KamogaIAPO Board Member,
Country Manager, CHAIN, Uganda
23rd IFPMA Assembly 11-12 October 2006 Geneva, Switzerland
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
An African patient perspective onprevalence of counterfeits
In Africa there is generally a low
level of awareness regarding
counterfeit medicines.
Poverty, vulnerability of patients
suffering from mass killer
diseases e.g. Malaria, TB and
HIV/AIDS and failure of public
health systems, have provided
fertile ground for counterfeit
medicines to prevail
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
Perpetrators include (among others);
• Importers
• Smugglers
• Pharmacists
• Healthcare providers
• Local manufacturers
• Regulators with personal interests
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
How they get away with it
• Limited facilities to test for quality
• Political Interference
• Inadequate financial, institutional &
human resource capacity for coordination
& implementation of national drug policies
• Borders too porous especially for
landlocked states, thus facilitating
smuggling
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
How they get away with it
• High and prohibitive pricing for some
drugs provides ready market for cheaper
counterfeits
• Weak law and enforcement – inconclusive
investigations, prosecutions and non-
deterrent sentences
• Public ignorance
• Corruption
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
How to curb counterfeiting
• Political will
• Collaboration amongst all stakeholders
• Strengthen institutional and human resource capacity
• Design and implement consumer-targeted and consumer-basedinformation, education, and communication campaigns
• Fight corruption
• Pharmacovigilance
• Cooperation with and sensitization of regulatory and law enforcement bodies
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
How rich countries can help
A Global problem needs a global solution
• Global regulation and enforcement-strict export control mechanism
• Subsidize medicines for poor countries
• Increase funding for essential medicines for poor countries
• Fund initiatives that promote information and empowerment of patients
• Technical and technological assistance to developing countries
Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world
IAPO’s role in the fight against counterfeit
medicines
A Unique global alliance of national, regional and
international groups representing patients across disease
areas
• Involved with the WHO initiative IMPACT(International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce)
• Exploring how to provide balanced accurate information to patients and the public to raise awareness of the problem of counterfeit medicines and how to check medicines : A patient safety tool is in the process of being produced
IAPO’s stanceA coordinated multi-stakeholder and multi-level approach, sharing
knowledge and resources has the potential to be highly effective
Contact us
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Promoting patient-centred healthcare around the world