Manufacturing products locally for more equitable pandemic responses
While the global vaccination effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 continues to ramp up worldwide, access to COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, remains staggeringly low. In fact, low- and middle-income countries received less than one percent of available doses.
Although women comprise a majority of the global health workforce, they are under-represented at the decision-making level of global policy and governance. This workforce pipeline challenge was a focus of recent remarks by the President of Mauritius, Her Excellency Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, during an event hosted by USP’s CePAT in Ghana to celebrate African women leaders in pharmacuetical regulatory affairs.
Medicines quality is at the center of CePAT’s work. Equipped with a new lab and expanded capabilities, CePAT is now tackling barriers to quality and hopes to change the odds that African’s will receive quality-assured medicines.
USP staff had the opportunity to hear an animated and truly captivating presentation by Dr. Ian Crozier, an infectious disease physician who was infected with Ebola while treating patients during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa last year.
Poor quality medicines are the source of an alarming, but often overlooked global health crisis. A report from the International Policy Network estimates that 700,000 people die every year from fake anti-malarial and tuberculosis drugs alone.
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) marked a major milestone in the fight against substandard and poor quality drugs by acheiving internationally recognized ISO 17025 accreditation.
Like most African countries, the challenges facing the Zambian pharmaceutical industry are vast. But under the leadership of Ms. Esnart Mwape, Director General of the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority, challenges such as counterfeit drugs are being addressed, as the Authority respositions itself to take charge of the market. Read more.
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