U.S. Pharmacopeia Joins “Fight the Fakes” Campaign to Raise Awareness of Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines
Rockville, MD (PRWEB) November 26, 2013 -- Counterfeit and substandard medicines are a global health crisis, spread across an international marketplace for pharmaceuticals and their ingredients, which demands a cooperative solution. In a concerted effort to help protect people from fake medicines, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is joining other global health organizations in a campaign to raise awareness and mobilize strategic partners to address this growing problem.
Fight the Fakes encourages organizations and individuals around the world to help spread the word about this vital public health issue:
• Counterfeit and substandard medicines constitute a $431 billion market – a 300% increase since 2000 – according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Fake medicines put patients and the public at risk, offering potentially dangerous products that can increase resistance to real treatments or cause further illness, disability or even death.
• An estimated 25-60% of the medicine supply in developing countries is either substandard or counterfeit (WHO).
• Everyone is encouraged to join the campaign and help spread the word about the dangers of fake medicines.
Under the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, quality standards established by USP are enforceable by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medicines and their ingredients manufactured, imported into, or marketed in the U.S. As a leader in the fight against counterfeit and substandard medicines, USP is actively involved in a series of ongoing initiatives to help ensure the quality of medicines. The Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program — implemented by USP and funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — has been instrumental in addressing this significant public health challenge.
PQM works to provide technical leadership and build local capacity to regulate and control the quality of medicines in developing countries; increase the supply of quality-assured medicines; combat the availability of substandard and counterfeit medicines; and advocate for worldwide quality standards.
Since 2009, USP has worked to implement programs in more than 35 countries. Successes include a stark reduction in illegal pharmacies in Cambodia and the development of a quality control laboratory in Liberia that is leading the fight to prevent fake medicines from reaching their population. USP’s work with USAID and other partners has also helped to shed light on the pervasiveness of the problem of quality medicines. According to the PQM and Ghana FDA 2013 Post-Market Surveillance on Uteronics, 90% of key medicines used to treat postpartum hemorrhage in Ghana failed tests for quality.
In May 2013, USP launched the Center for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training (CePAT) in Accra, Ghana in an effort to increase the number of experts and available tools to combat falsified, substandard and counterfeit medicines in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. For more information, view the video here uspgo.to/uspcommitment.
USP is pleased to join the international Fight the Fakes campaign, which is open to anyone concerned about this global issue. To join the effort, please visit http://www.fightthefakes.org.
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USP – Global Expertise, Trusted Standards, Improved Health
The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a global health organization that improves lives through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods. USP’s standards are used worldwide. For more information about USP visit http://www.usp.org. FY1417
Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, http://www.usp.org, +1 (301) 816-8268, [email protected]
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