Substandard and Falsified Medicines (WHO)
The presence of Substandard and Falsified (SF) medical products in countries, and their use by patients, impacts our ability to effectively tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We need to investigate this use both to understand the true scale of AMR as well as how much SF medicines may be contributing to the growing resistance.
The Fleming Fund is supporting the World Health Organization's (WHO's) work on the prevention, detection and response to SF antibiotics in Africa and South and South East Asia. WHO’s work aims to decrease the risks of SF medical products contributing to AMR, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
World Health Organization (WHO)
Phase 1: 4 years (April 2018 - March 2022)
Phase 2: 3 years (April 2022 – March 2025)
Phase 2.5: 1 year (April 2025 – March 2026)
Phase 1: £4m
Phase 2: £4.067m
Phase 2.5: £1.4m
Countries will be supported to use the Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS). The following countries have been prioritised for targeted support: Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Malawi, Bangladesh, South Africa, Niger, Laos PDR, Congo Brazzaville, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, The Gambia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka.
Objectives
- Improve awareness of both medical product users (public) and healthcare providers (HCPs)
- Improve reporting of SF medical products to national regulatory authorities (NRA)
- Enhance NRA capacity to receive, review SF reports and respond effectively and proportionately
- Increase conduct of local and collaborative regional risk-based post market surveillance (rbPMS) using e-tools
- Improve sharing of SF medical products information between Member States
- Improve supply chain detection of SF medical products using appropriate screening and detection technologies
Achievements and Milestones
- Upgraded WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS) to improve support to countries to effectively report and access information on SF medical products.
- Developed smartphone app and handbook to support countries with reporting of SF medical products.