Versuchen GOLD - Frei

Fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake

The Guardian

|

August 05, 2024

More than a fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake and could be contributing to countless deaths, a research review has found.

- Tharanika Ahillan

Fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake

Researchers from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia analysed 27 studies and found that, of 7,508 medicine samples, 1,639 failed at least one quality test and were confirmed to be substandard or falsified.

Claudia Martínez, the head of research at the Access to Medicine Foundation, an Amsterdam nonprofit, said: "If patients are getting medicines that are substandard or outright fake, it can result in their treatment failing or even preventable deaths."

Estimates published last year by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime put the human cost of falsified and substandard medicines at up to 500,000 deaths a year in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Substandard medicines" refer to those that are authorised but do not meet quality standards, whereas "falsified medicines" deliberately misrepresent their identity, composition or source.

A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson said antibiotics and antimalarial products were the most commonly falsified medicines in Africa.

WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON The Guardian

The Guardian

Garnacho saves sorry Chelsea from shock defeat by Qarabag

Chelsea’s precision is nowhere to be seen when Enzo Maresca rings the changes.

time to read

3 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Lights, camera, tax break The producer churning out flops funded by Treasury

Only the geekiest film buffs will have heard of Alan Latham, but he is one of the UK's most prolific movie producers.

time to read

4 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

Academics tell of 'heavy pressure' from China

UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students.

time to read

3 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

Lammy's luck is facing an opponent who can't count and has lost track of his gotcha moment

He had one job.

time to read

2 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

"The money you get in football means the parasites come'

The former West Ham, Chelsea and England footballer, a gifted maverick who always felt a man out of time, playing a game years ahead of most of his contemporaries, smiles when I ask how old he feels now: \"Forty-four. I'm 44 [this Saturday].

time to read

6 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

'A true champion' Hope overflows in New York as the outsider candidate claims victory

Zohran Mamdani's election downtown night party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night saw hundreds of his supporters erupt in applause as the democratic socialist from Queens was elected the next mayor of New York City.

time to read

4 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

Confusion at the gates Why system can't keep track of inmates

The mistaken release of a second foreign prisoner has forced ministers to once again revaluate their security and release procedures, and will once again shine a spotlight on the well-documented problems at HMP Wandsworth.

time to read

2 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

Lammy under pressure after two more prisoners mistakenly freed

David Lammy is under mounting pressure after two more prisoners, including a convicted foreign sex offender, were mistakenly freed days after the justice secretary introduced stringent checks for jails.

time to read

4 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

High-speed rail network could cover Europe by 2040, says EU

Breakfast in Berlin, lunch in Copenhagen, with a fast and easy train journey to pass the morning?

time to read

2 mins

November 06, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Tale of two city mayors Mamdani joins Khan on divided world stage

While the soon-to-be first Muslim mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, was in the final throes of his mayoral campaign on a brisk day in New York, Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, was wrapping up a two-day climate summit in a steamy if overcast Rio de Janeiro.

time to read

4 mins

November 06, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size