Supply chain and substandard and falsified medical products – Commonwealth Pharmacists Association Academy

Increasingly, the pharmaceutical industry is becoming an international market. Medical products are manufactured and distributed across borders and even oceans in a united effort to provide healthcare to patients globally. However, as this network has expanded, the gaps through which substandard, falsified and unregistered/unlicensed medical products (SFMs) can enter the system have grown.

Experts estimate that 1 in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are substandard or falsified. This includes medications, vaccines and other medical products such as diagnostic tests. These dangerous products harm patients and undermine healthcare systems. In 2023, a United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment reported that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, substandard and falsified antimalarial medicines are responsible for 267,000 deaths per year.

This video gives a brief overview of SFMs and their global impact.

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) have a responsibility to protect patients and the public health system against the threat of SFMs. Pharmacists, specifically as the final members of the pharmaceutical distribution chain, are crucial in preventing the introduction of SFMs into the supply chain and promoting adherence to good distribution practices.

This course will equip pharmacists and HCPs with the knowledge and tools necessary to combat the threat of SFMs. You will learn how to identify high-risk products, implement preventative measures within the supply chain, detect potential SFMs, and understand the importance of reporting incidents to safeguard patient and public health.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Define substandard, falsified and unregistered/unlicensed medical products, outlining their impact on public health.
Identify high-risk medical products and supply chain vulnerabilities that contribute to the spread of SFMs.
Recognise potential signs of SFMs through visual inspection and awareness of common red flags.
Explain the importance of reporting suspected SFMs and the basic principles of reporting procedures.

Behaviour Change

The purpose of this course is not only to improve your knowledge of SFMs but to actively promote lasting changes in how you practice and approach increasing awareness, prevention and reporting of potential SFMs.

Therefore, we have specifically designed certain aspects of the course to enhance and even challenge some of your existing behaviours and motivations so that you are better equipped moving forward.

We hope to promote positive changes, with a priority on improving the following behaviours for pharmacists and other HCPs:

Increase awareness of the harm caused by SFMs on patients and healthcare systems, fostering a sense of urgency to take preventive action.
Diligently inspect medical products for signs of being substandard or falsified and implement preventative measures within the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Promptly report any suspected SFMs to the appropriate authorities to protect patient safety and reduce harm while standardising the reporting process to increase follow-through among healthcare professionals.

While the main course content has been structured to help you improve your knowledge and skills so you are more confident in carrying out each behaviour, we will address a specific behaviour in a dedicated behaviour change section at the end of every module. During these sections, we ask you to reflect on your current practice, any barriers you may face and the steps you can take to improve in the future. We finish each section by highlighting tools and strategies to help going forward.

To get the most out of this course, we encourage you to participate fully in these sections.

This course should take approximately 3.5 hours to complete.

Published: August 2024

Review date: August 2027

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