Meds-on-a-Mission Blog: January 2020

AIMING to bring Healing . Health . Hope to Millions by Increasing AWARENESS of Fake Therapies & their Consequences, focusing on ADVOCACY and Partnerships to Address this Epidemic, while Supporting ACCESS to Effective and Affordable Medications.

January 2020 : Each issue highlights events involving the ongoing challenges associated with the epidemic of fake medications worldwide, the efforts being taken to combat this epidemic, and efforts to increase access to safe and effective medications.

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I. AWARENESS: This month's issue showcases areas where there are challenges associated with taking fake, substandard, & counterfeit medications and the consequences

Click Here for Previous Articles on Fake and Counterfeit Therapies

AFRICA

Fake drugs: How bad is Africa’s counterfeit medicine problem?

The proliferation of fake medicines in Africa is a public health crisis that can no longer be ignored, according to a UK charity.

Africa struggles to stem deadly flood of fake medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year some 100,000 people across Africa die from taking "falsified or substandard" medication.

The Real Consequences of Fake Medicines

Niger’s government is sounding the alarm about bogus meningitis vaccines – and it is not the first time. Five years ago, hundreds of Nigerien people died after receiving fake vaccines.

Africa struggles to stem deadly flood of fake medicine:

After he was struck down by malaria and typhoid, Togolese tailor Ayawo Hievi thought he was set to recover when he started taking drugs prescribed by his doctor. But far from curing him, the medication he was given at the neighbourhood clinic made him far worse -- eventually costing him one of his kidneys.

Africa struggles to stem deadly flood of fake medicine: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year some100,000 people across Africa die from taking ‘falsified or substandard’ medication. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated in 2015 that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor quality anti-malaria drugs in sub-Saharan Africa. Weak legislation, poor health care systems, and widespread poverty have encouraged the growth of this parallel — and deadly — market. Since 2013, Africa has made up 42 percent of the fake medicine seized worldwide. The two drugs most likely to be out-of-date or poor, ineffective copies are antibiotics and antimalarials.

ASIA

Drug regulator flags 47 medicines for failing quality tests

India’s top drug regulatory authority has flagged 47 batches of medicines for failing quality tests in December, including Abbott India’s gallstones medication Udiliv 300, Mankind Pharma’s iron supplement Ferikind-M Suspension and Torrent Pharma’s high blood pressure tablets Lorvas SR.

Many Companies Produce Substandard Medicines

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday released names of the pharmaceutical companies allegedly involved in producing substandard and falsified medicines in the country

Jawahar Nagar - Factory manufacturing fake menstruation medicines busted with 3 detained

The crime branch of Rajasthan police on Tuesday evening busted a factory involved in manufacturing fake medicines. The factory was being run out of a Housing Board house located in Jawhar Nagar area. The police have detained two people and are interrogating them. The factory was being run on the pretext of manufacturing Ayurveda medicines.

NORTH AMERICA

Tishomingo drug raid leads to three arrests

During a Jan. 15 search of a County Road 23 house in Dennis, Tishomingo County deputy sheriffs found both real and fake illegal drugs and arrested three people on felony charges.

II. ADVOCACY: The following global advocacy activities and partnerships, addressing the fake / counterfeit medication crisis and medication challenges

Click Here for Ongoing Worldwide Efforts

The global challenge of access to medicines

Recent reports on the issue of access to medicines in developing countries are a clear reminder that biopharmaceutical companies — including Gilead Sciences — have an obligation to think about how all patients across the world can benefit from new medical advances as early as possible, regardless of economic circumstance. This is just as important as the cutting-edge science that leads to new medicines. There is no one-size-fits-all access solution — every country needs to be approached on its own terms.

AFRICA

January Meeting in Togo to address Fake Medicines

There is a meeting of seven African countries, in Togo, to combat this problem - Congo, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, Ghana and Gambia will discuss measures to clamp down on trafficking in fake medicines.

Fake drugs kill people and fund terror. African leaders hope to do something about it.

LOME, Togo — The pills tend to come surreptitiously from China, India and Nigeria. They're packaged like cures for fever and rashes. They land on street corners — sometimes in plain view — and promise to ease suffering at a fraction of the cost. But fake drugs kill tens of thousands of people each year in a global counterfeit trade worth an estimated $200 billion, thwarting progress in the fight against malaria and other life-threatening diseases, experts say, while funding organized crime

NORTH AMERICA

Edible security tag has been developed to tackle fake drugs

Researchers from West Lafayette's Perdue University have created an edible security tag that can classify authentic drugs, using the existing physical unclonable functions (PUF) method, and published their research in the 'Nature Communications' journal.

III. ACCESS: Entities making a difference by finding ways to provide safe and effective medications to all

Click Here for additional information on access safe therapies

WHO selects fake meds among top 10 health challenges of 2020s

Expanding access to medicines, and fighting falsified and substandard drugs, is one of the World Health Organization’s top 10 urgent health challenges for the next 10 years.

Access to medicines—business as usual?

The latest Access to Medicine Index, published last November, found that while all 20 pharmaceutical companies assessed have some form of access initiative in place, a small group of companies account for the most activity. The Index also identified company best practices, for example, programmes offering discounted prices or donating products. These initiatives are a step in the right direction but their actual impact on access is unclear.

In this month's issue, Peter Rockers and colleagues report on the impact of one such initiative

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MEDS ON A MISSION – We AIM to bring Healing . Health . Hope to Millions Through Increased AWARENESS of Fake Therapies & their Consequences, Continued Focus on ADVOCACY and Efforts to Address This Epidemic, and Identifying ACCESS opportunities to Effective and Affordable Medications. If you are aware of any efforts going on in the above areas, please forward that information to medsonamission@gmail.com