DRC: Fact Finding mission to implement national activities to fight against falsified and substandard medicines

The general objective of this mission was to liaise with individuals and institutions in order to collect all information in DRC relevant to the MEDISAFE project (P66) at national and regional levels.

The specific objective of the mission was to gauge the current status of the fight against falsified medicines in DRC and regionally through semi-guided interviews with key stakeholders, and to lay-out the foundations of future cooperation for the implementation phase which is due to begin this year.

The first thematic area of the project consists in strengthening risk awareness on falsified medicines among civil society (work package 1). This mission aimed at the beginning to:

– Identify and liaise with the key stakeholders from the public and private sector (pharmacists, doctors, health students, pharmaceutical society and college, pharmaceutical industries, distributors and retailers of medicines);

– Map key stakeholders involved in policy and law-making as well as civil society.

The second thematic area of the project consists in strengthening legal frameworks to penalize the production and trafficking of falsified medicines (work package 2).

This mission began to:

– Identify and collect the DRC and international binding legislations and commitments addressing falsified medicines;

– Collect regional legislation and regulations addressing falsified medicines.

Third, the project will aim at building the capacity of the actors dealing with falsified medicines (security forces, judicial bodies, health professionals including pharmacists and laboratories).

Fourth, MEDISAFE will strengthen inter-agency cooperation at national level (police, customs, pharmaceutical inspection, etc.). The mission began to identify relevant DRC stakeholders (public and private) to achieve both activities.

The fifth thematic area of the project relates to improved regional and international cooperation on the issue. The mission began identifying critically important points of contact and projects in DRC which MEDISAFE will have to coordinate with.

Finally, the project will aim at strengthening the security of the supply chain. This mission specifically aimed at the beginning to:

– Map the pharmaceutical industries and traders;

– Map the supply chain from point of manufacture or importation through to public outlets  (both formal and informal);

– Map the ports of entry designated for the importation and export of medical products, and assessment of regulatory presence at those ports;

– Identify location of points of sale and authorised pharmacies.