US PQM programme to tackle counterfeit drugs
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention are expanding their joint efforts to combat the menace of counterfeit medicines by launching a five-year programme to help assure the quality and safety of medicines.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention are expanding their joint efforts to combat the menace of counterfeit medicines by launching a five-year programme to help assure the quality and safety of medicines.
The US$35m Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) programme will work with countries to strengthen their medicines regulatory bodies, which are responsible for protecting the supply chains; to increase the supply of good-quality medicines, which often are not available; to combat the availability of counterfeit and substandard medicines through testing programmes and other means; and conduct global advocacy to raise awareness of the dangers of substandard and counterfeit drugs.
Patrick Lukulay will manage the PQM programme with USAID's Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition, under the direction of Anthony Boni.
According to the US Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, counterfeit drug sales will reach US$75bn globally in 2010, an increase of more than 90% from 2005.
"Substandard and counterfeit medicines represent a threat to public health worldwide but pose a particular problem in developing countries, where lack of financial, technical and other resources make it difficult to protect the drug supply chains," said Gloria Steele, USAID acting assistant administrator for Global Health.
"Such medicines undermine decades of investments in public health. Without good quality, safe medicines to treat diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, the impact of other health initiatives is severely weakened if not negated completely. The PQM programme focuses on this critical aspect of combating these diseases."