1. ACCESS TO QUALITY MEDICINES IN THE REGION-COUNTERFEITING PROBLEMSBY
MARY JUSTIN-TEMU
MUHAS, TANZANIA.
EAST AFRICA UNSR CONSULTATION & HAI AFRICA NETWORKING MEETING September 2010
4/26/2018

2. ACCESS TO MEDICINE
Ensured access to medicines is part of the fulfillment of the right to health. Some Factors which affect access to medicine include:
high cost,
insufficient production, and
lack of research and development,
All these contribute to inequitable access to medicines to millions in the Developing World
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3. ACCESS TO MEDICINE cont.
Medicine prices are a major barrier to access to medicines, especially for the poor and sick. This has been pointed out in the WHO Regional surveys which were conducted in 2004.
The survey aimed at collecting prices of a pre-selected list of essential medicines.
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4. ACCESS TO MEDICINE cont
Access to medicines is becoming a growing challenge in developing world particularly due to inadequate knowledge on Selection, quantification, procurement and ordering of quality medicine by the personnel involved in the supply chain of medicine
Poor infrastructure in the region is also a contributing factor .
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5. CounterfeitIng of medicines.
The increased infiltration of substandard and fake medications is life-threatening
However, today the awareness of patients on the importance of using medicines of good quality has increased.
Patients of today are inquisitive and would like to know who is the manufacturer, what type of brand, what is the expiry dates etc
Advocacy on the importance of using medicines of good quality has even increased the community’s awareness.
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6. Counterfeit medicines cont
This is particularly worrying with regard to the increasing resistance development of these diseases like the Plasmodium falciparum against affordable anti-malarial medications, which has led to move from cheap and user-friendly CQ and SP to more expensive drugs ACTs.
Substandard and fake medications are increasingly being reported to be available on markets of developing world particularly sub-saharan Africa.
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7. Counterfeiting of medicines cont.
It is estimated that more than 10% of the globally traded medicines are counterfeits.
In developing countries, where drug regulatory authorities and control mechanisms are weak, people are at highest risk to use substandard medications.
Medication with fake drugs can lead to increased morbidity and mortality rates.
This in turn, affects the economic welfare of people and the health systems at large.
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8. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines.
The major challenge is lack of a defined system capable of detecting counterfeited medicines in developing world.
The Personnel involved in quality assurance of medicine continuously face such challenges
It is high time, member countries in the region work together in ensuring that only quality medicines are available, accessible and affordable.
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9. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines.
Health professionals are now concerned because during the International Nurses Day (12 May) in 2005, an anti-counterfeiting campaign, was launched on aims to raise awareness of this problem among nurses and other health professionals and eventually the public.
WHO at its WHA 2006 launched an International Medical Product anti-counterfeit Task force
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10. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines cont.
The counterfeiting of medicines is a global scourge, but more serious in the African continent, because of the:
weaknesses of legislation and controls,
lack of affordability of medicines and
attitude of governments.
A counterfeit medicine represents different levels of risk, depending if the active substance is present or not, if dosage is right one, if product contains toxic substances, etc.
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11. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines cont.
Pharmacists have a crucial role to play in fighting against the penetration of counterfeit medicines, both in securing the distribution chain, and in leading some actions towards patients. They should be made to understand that Counterfeit drugs are defined as those containing
no active ingredient,
an incorrect amount of active ingredients,
incorrect ingredient, and/or
unapproved labeling and packaging representing an unquantified problem of international proportions
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12. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines. cont.
The existing situation has been facilitated by
inconsistent national regulatory
oversight,
disparate unlinked databases,
lack of unified ant counterfeiting actions, and
inability to track the distribution of domestically produced or imported drug products between, among, and within nations
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13. Straggle against Counterfeiting of medicines. cont.
East African countries will risk of not attaining the millennium development goal (MDG) on universal treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases if the region's parliament adopts the anti-counterfeits policy and bill currently under consideration.
Civil society representatives, government officials and intellectual property experts warn that the region would not meet MDG, if it adopted the proposed policy and bill as they would block the production and importation of generic medicines used by healthcare services to treat diseases and therefore barrier of medicine access.
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14. Conclusion
Counterfeit drugs play role in decreasing medicine access to patients because patients are aware of quality of medicines.
Although the practice of drug counterfeiting is unlikely to ever completely disappear, it may be controlled if governments and all relevant parties combine forces to identify and disrupt the counterfeit chain.
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15. Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the funders and organisers of this meeting for inviting me to share issues related to right to health.
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