Mekong - U.S. Partnership
As part of its efforts to address quality problems with antimalarial medicines in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), the Promoting the Quality of Medicines, implemented by the United States Pharmacopeia Convention, and its local partners have intensified their retail outlet surveillance activities in areas of suspicion of selling illegal, unregistered, and fake medicines as well in provinces rife with artemisinin-resistant malaria. The photos illustrate the increased frequency of sample collection of antimalarials from both the public health facilities and private pharmacies by regulators and ‘mystery shoppers’ for quality testing; the results are provided to appropriate agencies for timely intervention.
Staff from the Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology–Ho Chi Minh City, and PQM, conduct visual and physical inspection of antimalarial medicines at a health center in Binh Phuoc Province of Vietnam, where artemisinin-resistant malaria has been documented.
Source: Health Matters Newsletter RDMA/Office of Public Health
