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This message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Ref. Biset Asrade Mekonnen, Muluabay Getie Yizengaw & Minichil Chanie Worku (2024) Prevalence of substandard, falsified, unlicensed and unregistered medicine and its associated factors in Africa: a systematic review, Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 17:1, 2375267, DOI: ...

Ref. Alfonso CP, N’Jambong GB, Magdy A, Di Trapani L, Kuwana R, Kahsay AG, Maïga D, Ossei-Agyeman-Yeboah SNA, Djitafo Fah AB, Ndomondo-Sigonda M. Identifying and costing common gaps in Central and West Africa pharmaceutical regulation. Front Med (Lausanne). 2024 Apr 5;11:1362253. Dear Friends, Those interested in the upgrade of capacities of national regulatory authorities (NRAs), will ...

Dear Friends,  It is sad to share again cases of contamination that may compromise -or have compromised-  the health of users of cough syrups, in particular of children.  First,  the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) received a report from the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) regarding the detection ...

Ref:  Qaiser M, Hilton T, Saeed Bukhari SK, Zloh M, Phanouvong S. How a tragedy became a catalyst for sustainable improvement in medicine safety. Lancet Glob Health. 2024 Mar;12(3):e376-e377. Dear Friends,  on …18 July 2012 (!) I shared a short article from the Lancet, “Pakistan’s deadly cocktail of substandard drugs”, analyzing the possible causes of an incident reported ...

The following message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Ref. Maharjan P, Ponganam MP, Lambert P, Vogel JP, McIntosh M, McDougall A (2024) The quality of medicines for the prevention and management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: A systematic review. PLOS Glob Public Health 4(2): e0002962. Dear ...

The following message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Ref. Cavany S, Nanyonga S, Hauk C, Lim C, Tarning J, Sartorius B, Dolecek C, Caillet C, Newton PN, Cooper BS. The uncertain role of substandard and falsified medicines in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Nat ...

The following message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Dear Friends, After a few ‘silent’ weeks, I would like to share with you three papers, all somehow related to antibiotic quality and/or rational use. Depending on your personal interests and background in the related disciplines, you ...

The following message is courtesy of Dr. Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Dear Friends, In the attached paper, Tharmalinga and colleagues share some interesting findings from the national regulatory authority in Sri Lanka. Doing secondary research on data routinely collected for regulatory oversight, the authors investigated the patterns of the medicines ...

Dear Friends,  in the attached Synthesis Report issued from the World Bank Group, Wang, Marquez, Figueras and Bieliaieva discusses the importance of Pharmacovigilance in contributing to building up resilient systems. Please share it with any potentially interested colleagues.   Pharmacovigilance (PV) is an essential component of a health (pharmaceutical)  system, particularly in the first decade ...

The following message is courtesy of Dr. Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium. Ref (1) Dhakal N, Gyanwali P, Humagain B, BC R, Jha N, Sah P, et al. (2023) Assessment of quality of essential medicines in public health care facilities of Nepal: Findings of a nationwide study. PLOS Glob ...