Twenty-five countries and 10 international organizations have pledged to respond to falsified and substandard medicines in French-speaking Africa.
On the sidelines of the 71st session of the World Health Assembly on 22 May, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and UNAIDS, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Fondation Chirac, hosted a conference entitled Access to Quality Medicines and Other Medical Products in Francophone Africa, which brought together nearly 400 participants, including a number of health ministers. They adopted a declaration with commitments to advance access for all, especially the poorest, to assured-quality health products.
Thousands of people die each year because of falsified or substandard medicines, especially in many African countries, where up to seven out of 10 medicines don’t meet the quality standards required by international health regulatory agencies.
“Finding ways and means for better access to quality medicines and medical products in developing countries, especially in Africa, at all costs is now an emergency because, despite conventional international measures, the intensifying scourge of falsified medicines continues to wreak havoc among the poor,” said Patrice Talon, the President of Benin.
Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, agreed. He said, “There is an urgent need to support efforts to stop the entry into the market of falsified and substandard medicines everywhere, including African countries. Access to quality medicines is at the heart of the right to health for all and it is also a prerequisite for universal health coverage.”
The signed declaration aims to foster mechanisms to assure the quality of all health products that reach the African market. Therefore, it calls for the strengthening of health regulatory capacities in the continent, paving the road for the local production of medicines.
OIF’s Secretary-General, Michaëlle Jean, would like the document to be the basis of an action plan. “We intend to raise this with all heads of state and government of the francophone area at the 17th Francophonie Summit in October, mobilizing them around concrete solutions and sustainable financing at the national, regional and international levels,” she said.
