One in Three Antidiabetic Medicines in Africa Found Substandard
A recent multinational study published in eClinicalMedicine has raised serious concerns about the quality of antidiabetic medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. Conducted across 13 countries between 2020 and 2023, the DIABDAF study analysed nearly 5,000 samples of oral drugs and insulin, with detailed testing on 1,673. Alarmingly, almost one in three medicines (32.8%) were found to be of poor quality, either because of incorrect levels of active ingredients or excessive impurities. Underdosage (19%) was more common than overdosage (8.7%), posing severe risks to effective diabetes management, while 10% contained unsafe impurity levels. With diabetes cases rising sharply across low- and middle-income nations, these findings highlight the urgent need for stronger regulation, robust quality assurance, and stricter oversight of supply chains to ensure patients have access to safe, effective, and reliable treatment.
Read more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40823495/