International Council of Nurses joins global health organisations in Fight the Fakes Campaign

Worldwide campaign to protect patients from fake medicines


                                                                                    

Fake medicines increasingly put patients and the general public
at risk across the world. In response to this challenge, ten global health organisations1, including
the International Council of Nurses (ICN), have joined forces to raise awareness about the
dangers of fake medicines.


The Fight the Fakes (www.fightfakes.org) campaign will create a global movement of
organisations and individuals that will speak up and help spread the word about this underreported,
yet growing threat to public health. The campaign aims to give a voice to those who
have been personally impacted and share the stories of those working to put a stop to this threat
to public health. Fight the Fakes supports the World Health Organization (WHO) Mechanism to
combat Substandard/Spurious/Falsely-labelled/Falsified/Counterfeit Medical Products and calls
for international, multi-stakeholder collaboration under WHO's leadership.


Fake medicines put patients and the general public at risk. Patients believe they are receiving
genuine treatment, when instead they are getting potentially dangerous products that could
increase resistance to real treatments, cause further illness, disability or even death.
Furthermore, fake medicines pose a public health danger by contributing to development of
treatment resistance.


“ICN takes fake and sub-standard medicines very seriously, as do our colleagues in this
campaign, said David Benton, ICN’s Chief Executive Officer. “In fact, since 2005, we have been
developing materials and raising awareness of the threat of fake medicines. Today, we are
stepping up that effort and joining the call to health care professionals, patients, pharmaceutical
companies, governments and the general public to work together to draw attention to the
dangers posed by fake medicines. ICN believes that only with a system-wide effort involving all
players, and a long-term view to solutions will we combat this serious threat to patient safety.”


While people in low- and middle-income communities are often at greater risk than those in high income
ones, fake medicines are a global problem and are reported in virtually every region of
the world. Fake medicines are reported in virtually every region of the world. In high income
countries, incidence of fake medicines is less than 1% of market value according to the estimates of the countries concerned2. Figures about sales of fake medicines rise to 10% globally, but in some areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America fake medicines may account for up to 30% of medicines in circulation3. In Africa, one-third of all malaria medicines are probably fake4. It is estimated that one medicine in two purchased on illegal Internet sites that hide their  hysical address is fake5.

Nearly any type of pharmaceutical product can be and has been counterfeited: whether
lifesaving medicines including those used to treat malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart
disease, diabetes and other life-threatening conditions or 'lifestyle' medicines, including erectile
dysfunction and weight loss medicines.




The negative impact of fake medicines is widespread and the environment in which the
manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and consumption of these counterfeit products takes
place is complex, making it more difficult to address this challenge. In launching this new
campaign, partners share the belief that to address this public health threat, public awareness
and coordinated actions among all actors involved in the manufacturing and distribution of
medicines are vital. Partners will bring to bear their experience, knowledge and insights, and
work together to protect patients across all regions of the world and call for the creation and strict
application of legislative and regulatory frameworks to effectively combat this global threat.
Nurses are on the frontlines of health, administering and often prescribing medicines, particularly
in primary health care settings. They are well positioned to monitor drug effects and side effects
and must be vigilant for signs of counterfeiting such as improper packaging and labelling. Nurses
also have a key role in educating the public about the dangers of buying medicines through the
Internet or on the streets from unauthorized sources.


As part of this effort, the campaign website (www.fightfakes.org) highlights the stories of people
whose lives have been impacted by fake medicines and of people who are working to stop this
crime in order to raise the profile of the dangers and impact of fake medicines in our
communities. The website also serves as a resource for organisations and individuals who are
looking to support this effort by sharing resources, outlining opportunities for action and reporting
what others are doing to fight fake medicines.

Participation in the Fight the Fakes campaign is open to all involved in public health and already
active in combating fake medicines, but also to those from other walks of life eager to join the
fight against fake medicines.

To join the campaign, please visit www.fightfakes.org.
Partners of the campaign include:
International Council of Nurses (ICN)
International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA)
International Institute on Research Against Counterfeit Medicines (IRACM)
The Fondation Chirac
Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)
NCD Alliance
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention (USP)
World Heart Federation
World Medical Association (WMA)

Source: http://www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/news/press_releases/2013_PR_21_Fight_the_Fakes.pdf

Global health workforce shortage to reach 12.9 million in coming decades-WHO

 
The world will be short of 12.9 million healthcare workers by 2035; today, that figure stands at 7.2 million. A World Health Organization (WHO) report released earlier this month warns that the findings - if not addressed now - will have serious implications for the health of billions of people across all regions of the world.
 
The report, A Universal Truth: No health without a workforce, identifies several key causes. They include an ageing health workforce with staff retiring or leaving for better paid jobs without being replaced, while inversely, not enough young people are entering the profession or being adequately trained. Increasing demands are also being put on the sector from a growing world population with risks of noncommunicable diseases (e.g. cancer, heart disease, stroke etc.) increasing. Internal and international migration of health workers is also exacerbating regional imbalances.
 
The findings were released at the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health together with recommendations on actions to address workforce shortages in the era of universal health coverage. The main recommended actions include:

• Increased political and technical leadership in countries to support long-term human resource development efforts.
• Collection of reliable data and strengthening human resource for health databases.
• Maximizing the role of mid-level and community health workers to make frontline health services more accessible and acceptable.
• Retention of health workers in countries where the deficits are most acute and greater balancing of the distribution of health workers geographically.
• Providing mechanisms for the voice, rights and responsibilities of health workers in the development and implementation of policies and strategies towards Universal Health Coverage.

“The foundations for a strong and effective health workforce for the future are being corroded in front of our very eyes by failing to match today’s supply of professionals with the demands of tomorrow’s populations,” says Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation. “To prevent this happening, we must rethink and improve how we teach, train, deploy and pay health workers so that their impact can widen.”
 
While the report highlights some encouraging developments, for example, more countries have increased their health workforce, progressing towards the basic threshold of 23 skilled health professionals per 10 000 people, there are still 83 countries below this basic threshold. But it is the future projections that raise the loudest alarms. In a stark assessment, the report says the current rate of training of new health professionals is falling well below current and projected demand. The result will be that in the future, the sick will find it even harder to get the essential services they need and preventive services will suffer.
Whilst the largest shortages in numerical terms are expected to be in parts of Asia, it is in sub-Saharan Africa where the shortages will be especially acute. On education and training, for example, in the 47 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, just 168 medical schools exist. Of those countries, 11 have no medical schools, and 24 countries have only one medical school.
 
“One of the challenges for achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that everyone - especially people in vulnerable communities and remote areas - has access to well-trained, culturally-sensitive and competent health staff,” says Dr. Carissa Etienne, WHO Regional Director for the Americas. “The best strategy for achieving this is by strengthening multidisciplinary teams at the primary health care level.”
 
Universal Health Coverage aims to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them. In the Americas, 70% of countries have enough health care workers to carry out basic health interventions, but those countries still face significant challenges linked to the distribution of professionals, their migration and appropriate training and skills mix.
“Training of health professionals must be aligned with the health needs of the country,” adds Dr. Etienne.
 
All countries are urged to heed the signals of shortages. For example, in developed countries, 40% of nurses will leave health employment in the next decade. With demanding work and relatively low pay, the reality is that many young health workers receive too few incentives to stay in the profession.
 
The publication also identifies maternal and child health as an urgent health workers’ action area. Around 90% of all maternal deaths and 80% of all still births occur in 58 countries, largely because those countries lack trained midwives. Also, of the 6.6 million under-five year olds who died in 2012, most deaths were from treatable and preventable diseases. Again, more health workers would prevent most of those unnecessary young deaths.
 
The Third Global Forum for Human Resources for Health is the largest event ever held on human resources for health, with more than 1300 participants from 85 countries, including 40 Ministers of Health. 

Source: http://www.who.int/workforcealliance/forum/2013/3gf_pr/en/