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Home > News > Key players in the fight against counterfeit medicines brought together by the Togolese Republic and the European Commission Brazzaville Foundation

Published December 08, 2022 / Public health

Key stakeholders in the fight against fake medicines brought together by the Togolese Republic and the Brazzaville Foundation

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Geneva, December 8, 2022 - The Permanent Mission of the Togolese Republic and the Brazzaville Foundation brought together last night the key stakeholders in the fight against fake medicines. This meeting took place in the framework of the 5th edition of the Fight the Fakes week.

Around H.E. Mr. Yackoley K. Johnson, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Togolese Republic to the United Nations Office in Geneva, and Mr. Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of the Brazzaville Foundation, were, among others, H.E. Mr. Aimé Clovis Guillond, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva for the Republic of Congo, Mrs. Fatoumata Binta T. Diallo, WHO Representative in Togo, members of the Board of Directors of the Fight the Fakes Alliance, Mr. Greg Perry, IFPMA Deputy Director, Mr. Oscar Alarcon-Jim, Mr. Oscar Alarcon-Jim, and Mr. Richard Amalvy. Diallo, WHO Representative in Togo, members of the Board of Directors of the Fight the Fakes Alliance, Mr. Greg Perry, IFPMA Deputy Director Chief Executive , Mr. Oscar Alarcon-Jimenez, Executive Secretary of the Committee of the Parties to the MEDICRIME Convention of the Council of Europe, Mr. Robert Blum President of the Cercle Diplomatique de Genève.

The meeting brought together several key players in the fight against falsified and substandard medicines (FSM) and aimed to present the pilot project soon to be launched in Togo to draw up a national plan to combat FSM and model the methodology. The Togolese Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Yackoley K. Johnson, welcomed the guests and presented the Lomé Initiative against FSM signed by six countries in 2020 (*), of which the Togolese Republic is the political coordinator. He then introduced the Pilot Project which aims to secure the global drug supply chain. He reiterated the political support of H.E. President Faure Gnassingbé, who had urged other African countries to join the Lomé initiative during his opening speech at the 72nd WHO Regional Committee for Africa earlier this year. He also presented the expected results of the elaboration of the national plan against FSM in Togo.

 

On behalf of theFight the Fakes AllianceMr. Greg Perry, Chief Executive Deputy of IFPMApresentedorganisation and the 5th edition of the Fight the Fakes Week and gave an overview of the two days of workshops that allowed the members of the executive committee to define a strategy for the Alliance. Since March 2022 Brazzaville Foundation is a member of its executive committee. Ms. Sireesha Yadlapalli, Vice President of International Government and Regulatory Affairs for the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), responded by calling for greater oversight of the raw materials responsible for the repeated incidents since 2006. Mr. Oscar Alarcon-Jimenez, Executive Secretary of the Committee of Parties to the Medicrime Convention urged African states to expedite the signing of the Medicrime Convention by their respective countries.

 

Ms Fatoumata Binta T. Diallo, WHO representative in Togo, confirmed her support for the Lomé Initiative and its pilot project in Togo, which is part of the UNDP's annual plan for Togo, and stressed the importance of UN agencies supporting such a project.

The meeting was honorably enhanced by the presence of Mr. Niccolò Savorgnan di Brazza, descendant of the Franco-Italian explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, after whom the capital of the Republic of Congo and the Foundation are named.

(*) The signatory states of the Lomé Initiative are Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Uganda. Candidate states are DR Congo, Gambia and Guinea Bissau.