MQPH 2018 conference participants sign Oxford Statement in a pledge to radically improve medicine quality

More than 200 delegates travelled from over 50 countries to attend the conference hosted by IDDO and other partners including the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit and the Wellcome Trust. The conference inspired new collaboration and discussion on substandard and falsified medicines. Many of the conference partners are key stakeholders for the new Medicines We Can Trust campaign (#MedsWeCanTrust) launched earlier this year by United States Pharmacopeia.

The Oxford Statement, outlined in full below, is the first key output from the conference delegates. It shows the collective commitment to ensure that everyone has access to quality medicines. IDDO is a signatory and champions the following priorities: 

1. The quality of medical products is critical to protect lives globally. Substandard and falsified medical products negate the benefits of access to modern healthcare, especially for the most vulnerable.
2. We must work collaboratively across sectors to raise awareness, encourage political will, investment and action to make quality medical products affordable and accessible to all.
3. We will work in support of WHOs recommendation for the Prevent, Detect and Respond framework against SF medical products and for the global strengthening of medicines regulatory systems.
4. We call on governments, national and international organisations and funders to prioritise human capacity and financial investment to ensure effective, efficient and consistent quality assurance by all NMRAs, including improved data sharing and harmonisation, with linked efficient procurement and supply systems leading to equitable access and improved global health.

A broader consensus statement outlining the key medicine quality policy and research issues to prioritise going forward will be released in Spring 2019, in conjunction with activities coordinated by the Medicines We Can Trust campaign.

Professor Paul Newton, Head of the IDDO Medicine Quality Group and Director of Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital Wellcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU) explains, "The detailed Oxford consensus statement will outline the key opportunities and priority'next steps' to tackle poor quality medicines. We hope to organize many more opportunities as part of the #MedsWeCanTrust campaign to collaborate and make a real difference to the lives of those affected by this unacceptable global health challenge."

A selection of conference photos are available on the MQPH 2018 conference website. 

Follow @IDDOnews and @WWARN to read the conference highlights and search for #MQPH2018 and #MedsWeCanTrust.

For media enquiries please email: comms@iddo.org

Learn more about our Medicine Quality programme or email info@iddo.org

 

The Oxford Statement

"Access to safe and effective medical coverage is essential to WHO goals. There is no universal health coverage, no health security without access to quality medicines."

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO
27 September 2018

October 2018: Every person has the right to expect that when they use a medical product, whether medicine, vaccine or diagnostic kit, it works. But too often, that is not the case. Substandard medical products result from errors, negligence or poor practice in manufacturing, transportation and/or storage. In contrast, falsified products result from criminal fraud. Both innovative and generic products are affected.

While substandard and falsified (SF) medical products are found worldwide, they are more prevalent in countries with under-resourced national medicine regulatory authorities (NMRAs).

Representatives of governments, national and international agencies, non-governmental organisations, professional associations and academic institutions participated in the 1st International Conference on Medicine Quality & Public Health at Keble College, Oxford 23-28 September 2018.

The conference discussed the latest evidence on the epidemiology of SF medical products, their health, economic, social, legal and ethical implications, and debated interventions to ensure that all the world's population have access to affordable and quality-assured medical products. 

The organisations comprising the #MedsWeCanTrust Campaign and others listed below reached consensus that:

a/ The quality of medical products is critical to protect lives globally. Substandard and falsified medical products negate the benefits of access to modern healthcare, especially for the most vulnerable.

b/ We must work collaboratively across sectors to raise awareness, encourage political will, investment and action to make quality medical products affordable and accessible to all.

c/ We will work in support of WHOs recommendation for the Prevent, Detect and Respond framework against SF medical products and for the global strengthening of medicines regulatory systems.

d/ We call on governments, national and international organisations and funders to prioritise human capacity and financial investment to ensure effective, efficient and consistent quality assurance by all NMRAs, including improved data sharing and harmonisation, with linked efficient procurement and supply systems leading to equitable access and improved global health.

A detailed consensus statement is in development with all conference partners comprising priorities and recommendations for the Medicine Quality community. It is anticipated this will be published in 2019.

Signed (in alphabetical order):

• Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA)
• The Association of Mongolian Pharmacy Professionals
• Medicines Working Group of Be-cause Health
• Brazzaville Foundation
• CIRM VIBRASANTE hub & V4F Consortium
• Clinica Integral Almas (CIAM A.C.)
• Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS)
• Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University, Canada
• East African Center of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunizations and Health Supply Chain Management
• The Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management at Erasmus University
• Farmanguinhos, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Ministry of Health Brazil
• The George Institute for Global Health
• Global Clinical Practice Alliance (GCPA)
• hera
• Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO)
• Innospectra
• Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp
• Intellectual Ventures' Global Good Fund
• International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO)
• The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University, Sweden
• Kanazawa University, Medi-Quality Security Institute, Japan
• Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA)
• Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority
• Lund University Faculty of Medicine
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Mahidol Oxford Research Unit, University of Oxford
• Malaria No More UK
• Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS)
• Nangarhar University Medical Faculty, Afghanistan
• National Agency for Food & Drug Administration (NAFDAC), Nigeria
• National Medical Stores (NMS)
• National Medical Supplies Fund
• Optel
• QUAMED (Quality of Medicines for All)
• Solthis
• Strategic Initiative for Developing Capacity in Ethical Review (SIDCER)
• University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• University of Malawi College of Medicine
• University of the Western Cape, School of Public Health, South Africa
• USP