Nigeria at risk as study finds rise in fake anti-malaria drugs
A new study published by JAMA Network Open has found that the mass production of fake anti-malaria drugs have become pervasive in low- and middle-income countries targeting markets in Africa and other developing countries.
Nigeria is the single most heavily malaria-burdened country in the world, with 48 million malaria cases annually and 180,000 deaths per year hence the bulk of these drugs end up in Nigeria.
Malaria remains one of the most devastating infectious diseases with approximately 212 million infections and 429,000 deaths (link is external) each year – primarily children under the age of 5 in sub-Saharan Africa.
The research was carried out Substandard and falsified medicines burden health systems by diverting resources to ineffective or harmful therapies, causing medical complications and prolonging illnesses. However, the prevalence and economic impact of poor-quality medicines is unclear.
According to the findings, the systematic review of 265 studies comprising 400 647 drug samples and meta-analysis of 96 studies comprising 67 839 drug samples, the prevalence of substandard and falsified medicines in low- and middle-income countries was 13.6% overall (19.1% for anti-malarials and 12.4% for antibiotics).
Data on the estimated economic impact were limited primarily to market size and ranged widely from $10 billion to $200 billion.
The authors say their findings show it is important for global collaborative efforts are needed to improve supply-chain management, surveillance, and regulatory capacity in low- and middle-income countries to reduce the threat of poor-quality medicines.
“Substandard and falsified medicines are a substantial health and economic problem; a concerted global effort is needed to secure the global supply chain, increase quality control capacity, and improve surveillance to better assess the problem and identify solutions,” says research.
Obinna Onwujekwe, a professor at the department of pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka said the results show that the health system actors should be eternally vigilant in Nigeria and in other countries to ensure that sub-standard drugs do not impede or erode gains made in malaria treatment.
“Drug regulatory authorities and their partners should intensify drug quality monitoring activities with appropriate sanctions for defaulters,” said Onwujekwe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10.5 per cent of medicines worldwide are substandard or falsified.
Furthermore, most of the burden falls on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) because of poor pharmaceutical governance, weak technical capacity, and poor supply-chain management.
Until recently, the efforts to combat substandard and falsified (SF) medicines have been fragmented because of the complexity of the issue and intellectual property rights disputes
“This issue not only has significant health and economic consequences, but directly threatens global health security and efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.8, to achieve universal access to safe and effective essential medicines,” say the authors.
However, the researchers further reveals that over time, diminished trust in licensed health care professionals may further encourage informal care-seeking and self-medication.
“Poor health outcomes can also erode trust in the manufacturers of genuine pharmaceutical products, which are often challenging to distinguish from SF ones without the use of verification technologies,” it says.