DQI Trip Report - Cambodia, October 2009

The PSAs will be broadcast on national television in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. DQI also filmed interviews with Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff as part of a regional documentary about poor quality medicines that is being developed for global broadcast. DQI staff also interviewed candidates and then hired a full-time consultant to be based in Phnom Penh who will help implement country activities and strengthen communication with partners. The DQI team has been providing technical assistance to the Cambodian Ministry of Health's Department of Drugs and Food (DDF), the National Health Product Quality Control Center (NHPQ), and National Priority Diseases Programs for malaria and tuberculosis since 2003 in an effort to improve the quality of medicines in Cambodia. DQI has been active in four key areas: improving detection of poor-quality medicines circulating in the Cambodian market through postmarketing surveillance, strengthening existing drug quality control and assurance systems, improving availability of, and access to, objective and up-to-date information about medicines, and raising awareness among the general public about medicine quality issues and mobilizing policy makers, regulators, and health professionals to act. DQI assisted the Cambodian government to establish 12 sentinel sites that collect data on medicine quality. The medicines quality monitoring (MQM) program is jointly funded by USAID and the Global Fund (GF) and is implemented by the DDF. According to results of the program, approximately 12% of the medicines sampled during 2003-2009 were of poor quality (15% for antimalarials). Substandard and counterfeit medicines in all categories – antimalarial, antibiotic, and antiretroviral – have been found circulating in the Cambodian market. It is not unusual to find unregistered or expired products in pharmacies and drug outlets in both urban and rural settings. The DDF, Pharmacists Association of Cambodia (PAC), and Inter-Ministerial Committee for Eliminating Counterfeit Drugs and Illegal Health Care Services (IMC) use the findings from the MQM program to alert health professionals and the public about substandard and counterfeit drugs found in the region. Cambodia has initiated a public awareness campaign to draw attention to the dangers of buying products from the informal market. DQI and Living Films, with funding from USAID/Cambodia and the Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDM-A), have produced PSAs warning the public to be alert. The PSAs will be televised in five regional languages. The DQI team's activities in Cambodia are part of a broader effort to improve the quality of medicines in the region. The team has been working closely with the Cambodian government and other stakeholders to strengthen the country's drug quality control and assurance systems, improve access to objective and up-to-date information about medicines, and raise awareness about medicine quality issues. The team's work has been supported by USAID and other donors, and has involved the establishment of sentinel sites to collect data on medicine quality, the development of PSAs to raise awareness about the dangers of counterfeit medicines, and the hiring of a local consultant to help implement country activities and strengthen communication with partners.