African experts discuss need for better regulation of medicine

In most African countries, pharmaceutical drugs are poorly regulated or not regulated at all, posing huge risks for those who depend on them to stay healthy, and access to safe and effective medicine can be touch and go in Africa, where the market abounds with drugs that are fake or expired.

However, reports Voice of America, for the first time, the topic has gained the attention of African officials, who are holding a scientific conference on the topic in South Africa.
Fake and expired drug can have disastrous consequences, says Margareth Ndomondo-Sigonda, a Tanzanian who oversees pharmaceutical issues for an African Union agency, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

More than 30% of medicines in Africa are substandard

"The situation that you see in Africa is that most of the medicines circulating in our market, more than 30%, either does not meet the standards, meaning that it cannot treat the disease that it is intended to, or it is falsified, meaning that it is not a real medicine," Ms Ndomondo-Sigonda said. "Could be that it does not have the necessary active ingredients, and therefore it may not treat or it may even cause harm to the patient instead of actually treating the disease that is intended," she noted.

Ms Ndomondo-Sigonda is one of hundreds of experts who gathered in Johannesburg this week for the first-ever scientific conference bringing together pharmacists, health workers, governments and civic organizations to discuss how to better regulate the drugs that make it to health facilities across Africa. She says that most African nations lack the capacity to effectively police medicines. Nations are considering tightening and refining their testing protocols and collaborating on testing, among other interventions.