USP Joins "Fight the Fakes" Campaign

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) (Maryland, USA) has announced that it will join the “Fight the Fakes” campaign to raise awareness of counterfeit and substandard medicines. These drugs pose a significant risk to global public health because they can be completely ineffective, and also have adverse effects resulting in disease resistance, disability, or even death. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that counterfeit and substandard medicines make up a $431 billion market — a 300% increase in size since 2000.

The USP publishes quality standards that are used worldwide for the analysis of food, drugs, and cosmetics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforce these standards for products that are manufactured, imported, or marketed within the United States. However, WHO estimates that 25–60% of the medicines supplied in developing countries are either substandard or counterfeit.

The USP has implemented programs in more than 35 countries, which has resulted in the reduction of illegal pharmacies in Cambodia and the development of a quality control laboratory in Liberia. An on-going initiative is the “Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM)” program. Implemented by the USP and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), it supports the implementation of regulation and control of medicine quality in developing countries. Earlier this year, the USP launched the Center for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training (CePAT) in Accra, Ghana, following the publication of the PQM and Ghana FDA 2013 Post-Market Surveillence on Uteronics suggesting that 90% of medicines used to treat postpartum hemorrhage in Ghana failed quality testing.

For more information on the campaign visit www.fightthefakes.org