A Matrix of Drug Quality Reports on USAID-assisted Countries

In Angola, the Provincial Government of Luanda banned the sale of medicines and surgery tools in municipal markets due to the lack of hygienic conditions. According to a press release, products were being sold without proper observance of technical and scientific conditions. In Burkina Faso, 20% of medicines in Ouagadougou were found to be counterfeit, with no expiration date and no prescription required. A record 23.6 tonnes of fake medicines were seized by government security forces in the past three years, costing the economy up to USD $4.7 million each year. Of 77 antimalarial samples taken in Nouna Health District in 2006, 32 (42%) were found to be of poor quality, with 10% coming from the licensed market and 90% from the illicit market. In Cameroon, a team from the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board sampled various anti-infectives from kiosks in and near the town of Tiko and found expired packs of antimalarials and one brand that contained no active ingredient. The same shops were also selling degraded tablets of penicillin. In Congo, 60% of people in Brazzaville use medicines purchased from illegal street vendors to treat malaria instead of the recommended remedy (ACTs). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), of 24 samples taken from pharmacies in Nairobi, Kenya and Bukavu, DR Congo, 9 failed European pharmacopeial requirements for active ingredients. Two samples had slight overdoses, while 7 were underdosed. Artemether injections had the lowest drug content (77%). Approximately two-thirds of the dry powder suspensions were found to be fake or substandard. In Egypt, fake Viagra tablets were made by combining ingredients in a cement mixer. A large amount of counterfeit drugs were seized during warehouse raids, with counterfeits purporting to treat cancer, diabetes, hyperprolactinaemia, and others confiscated. The Ministry of Health and Population estimates that 10% of pharmaceutical products sold in the country are counterfeit. The General Administration of the Pharmaceuticals Inspection Department (GAPID) recorded 807 police reports in 2009 against entities accused of producing, distributing, or selling counterfeit medicines. In Ghana, two containers of counterfeit "Close Up" toothpaste were destroyed by the Anti Illicit Trade Coalition at Kpone Landfill. The toothpaste was imported from China. Counterfeit antimalarials – Coartem with batch nos. X0089 and M1200 – were found in the market, with the drugs found to contain no active ingredient. The fake Coartem was found when a private citizen brought a suspicious sample to the attention of the Medicine Quality Monitoring program, implemented by the U.S. Pharmacopeia Drug Quality and Information Program and financially supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development. In Kenya, of 17 sampled artesunate tablets sold in pharmacies in Kumasi, 14 (82.4%) failed to meet European Pharmacopeia content requirements. Substandard and counterfeit versions of 13 antimalarials were found in Ghana through the medicine quality monitoring program set up by the Promoting the Quality of Medicines program and implemented by the Ghana Food and Drugs Board (FDB). FDB issued recalls for the medicines and publicized the names of the pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals where the medicines were found. The FDB, in collaboration with police and other stakeholders, conducted a two-day raid that resulted in the arrests of 30 people who were found selling fake medicines. Quality of artesunate tablets sold in pharmacies in Kumasi, Ghana was found to be substandard, with 82.4% of samples failing to meet European Pharmacopeia content requirements.