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Published August 24, 2022 / Public health

WHO, Togo and Brazzaville Foundation invite African countries to join the fight against fake medicines

20220823-RC72-SideEvent

23 August, in Lomé (Togo) - Trafficking and consumption of falsified and substandard medicines (FSM) is a scourge that does not spare Africa. During the 72nd session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa, the Brazzaville Foundation co-organised a side event with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Togo and the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

Caption (from left to right): Dr. Mamessilé Aklah Agba-Assih, Minister Delegate of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care of Togo; Dr. Joseph Kaboré, WHO Director of Management programmes for Africa; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief Executive of WHO; Ms. Minata Samaté Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the African Union; Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Minister of Health of Rwanda; Mr. Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of the Brazzaville Foundation.

Entitled "Fighting medicines that kill in Africa: A Collaborative and Integrated Approach", the meeting focused on coordinating the fight against FSM in Africa and featured the following panelists: Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief Executive of WHO and Dr. Joseph Kaboré, WHO Director of Management programmes for Africa, Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health of the Togolese Republic, and his Rwandan counterpart, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Ms. Minata Samaté Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development at the African Union, Dr. Mamessilé Aklah Agba-Assih, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care of Togo, and Mr. Richard Amalvy, Director of the Health Department of the Ministry of Health. Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of Brazzaville Foundation.

 

Watch the replay of the event below:

A dynamic of mutualisation and cooperation

This exchange was part of a new dynamic in Africa regarding access to quality and affordable medicines. First, through the operationalisation of theAfrican Medicines Agency (AMA) to be based in Rwanda.

 

Secondly, a pilot project was launched in Togo at the end of the year to set up a national plan to fight against FSM. This project is part of the Lomé Initiative (LDI), launched at a summit organised by the Brazzaville Foundation in 2020 in Togo, leading to the Lomé Declaration signed by six African states[1].

 

Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care of the Togolese Republic, and also the IDL's political coordinator, recalled the systemic nature of the trafficking of the FSM : "Everyone agrees that a national action is ineffective. Everyone agrees that one sector within a country cannot deal with it."

 

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Chief Executive of WHO, also present at the Lomé summit in January 2020, named the three factors that drive the proliferation of FSM in Africa: " Lack of access to quality and affordable medicines, [...] lack of good governance, [...] and lack of technical capacity. " He also emphasized political commitment as the driving force behind solving the FSM problem. " If there is real commitment, there will be information sharing, financial investment, mobilisation international support, and, most importantly, capacity building. "

The pharmaceutical supply chain

Corrupting agents are multiplying all along the supply chain. To secure the entire drug distribution circuit in Togo, the Central Purchasing Office for Essential Generic Medicines of Togo (CAMEG-TOGO) is acting on the pharmaceutical supply chain. Dr. Mamessilé Agba-Assih, Director of CAMEG-TOGO and Minister Delegate to the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Health Care in Togo, recognizes the difficulty of identifying reliable suppliers. She advocates the establishment of the IDL: " We must manage through these regional initiatives to set up supply systems that we control from end to end. The means include centralizing purchasing at the regional level to benefit from a volume effect.

 

In addition, 70% of medicines consumed in Africa are imported. To reduce this dependence and build a resilient health system, it is a question of coordinating the production of medicines at the local level and using the 400 existing pharmaceutical factories in Africa.

Levers of action to organize the fight

The two levers identified are interministerial action supported by appropriate legislation and the need for coordinated action by the public authorities, the private sector and civil society. For Dr. Mamessilé Agba-Assih, this implies better communication: "There is a dialogue to be put in place between certain administrations, notably customs and the police [...] and an inter-country dialogue, via information sharing." She also referred to the courage needed, in addition to the political will already expressed by the IDL promoters.

Strengthening andharmonisation the normative framework

Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive of Brazzaville Foundation and moderator of the event, presented the African Union Model Law on the Regulation of Medical Products. One of the recommendations of this law is the creation of a national drug regulatory authority. At the continental level, this is the expected role of the AAM. Today, 23 countries have signed the treaty establishing the AAM. According to Ms. Minata Samaté Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development at the African Union, the harmonisation of member states' legislation on the basis of the AU model law is the sine qua non for the success of the AAM.