Poor-quality medicines, including counterfeits and those with the incorrect dosage, are a “real and urgent threat” to public health, according to a collection of 17 research papers published in a prominent medical journal.So-called “fake drugs” include expired medicines, those with manufacturing defects, and bogus tablets designed to look like the real thing. … [Read more...]
African Experts Discuss Need for Better Regulation of Medicine
In most African countries, pharmaceutical drugs are poorly regulated or not regulated at all, posing huge risks for those who depend on them to stay healthy. But for the first time, the topic has gotten the attention of African officials, who holding a scientific conference on the topic in South Africa.Access to safe and effective medicine can be touch and go in Africa, where the market … [Read more...]
Liberia Fights Fake Drugs
DAKAR — Liberia is cracking down on the sellers of fake or expired pharmaceutical drugs, but has met some resistance from people, especially in rural communities, who say these black market medicines are all they can get or afford. The traffic and sale of old and counterfeit medicine—a multimillion dollar industry—is widespread in West Africa.It is not hard to find one of … [Read more...]
Take Action to Stop Counterfeit Malaria Drugs
This campaign was launched by the Dutch Malaria Foundation on World Malaria Day 2013:" If one out of three doses of anti-malaria drugs on the African market are fake or substandard, how can we expect to reduce the number of children dying from this terrible disease? Good drugs save lives. Fake drugs kill.On behalf of millions of people that run this unacceptable risk every day, we say … [Read more...]
Shelf Life of Malarone
QUESTIONI've just finished reading several years' worth of your responses to questions and I'm very impressed. Thank you for being surely one of the best sources on the web. My question pertains to the shelf life of Malarone tablets. My husband and I have been in Madagascar for three weeks now and will stay for another two and a half months. I am very preventive-oriented (long sleeves, pants … [Read more...]
Mobile Technology Used to Fight Malaria Drug Counterfeiting
African Social Enterprise mPedigree Networks has been running a program in Nigeria and Ghana that allows consumers to verify the authenticity of anti-malaria drugs by using mobile phone SMS technology. With the new service, patients taking a range of medication and send a free text message to get an instant response as to whether the medications are genuine.Counterfeit medicines often contain … [Read more...]
Malaria Prevention
QUESTIONWhat are the ways in which you can prevent yourself from being infected with malaria?ANSWERMalaria prevention consists of a combination of mosquito avoidance measures (since malaria is transmitted by infected mosquitoes) and chemoprophylaxis (medication to prevent the establishment of malaria in your body, if you do get bitten). Although very efficacious, none of the … [Read more...]
Counterfeit Anitmalarial Drugs Threaten Crisis in Africa
Hopes of at last controlling malaria in Africa could be dashed by the emergence of poor-quality and fraudulent antimalarial medicines, warn experts writing in Malaria Journal. Unless urgent action is taken both within Africa and internationally, they argue, millions of lives could be put at risk. … [Read more...]