The importance of access to quality-assured health products has been documented in the scientific literature for more than two decades now. With increasing awareness of the problem, different programs have been launched over time to tackle substandard and falsified (SF) health products. However, they are still insufficient to protect public health everywhere, as reminded by recent incidents that led to the death of dozens of children in The Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, due to contaminated syrups. The prevalence of SF health products is higher in countries with weak national regulatory authorities; however, in a highly globalized pharmaceutical market, there are risks that poor-quality products (including raw materials) may infiltrate markets with stringent regulation. Raffaella will present how supply, pricing, access and affordability, and regulation all influence the quality of health products; and how social sciences and ethics can provide important guidance to the stakeholders in pharmaceutical systems, as well as complementary understanding of the causes and consequences of SF health products.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion involving local stakeholders from a variety of discipline settings.

Raffaella Ravinetto is a pharmacist and public health researcher, with a special interest in pharmaceuticals and ethics, at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium and an extraordinary professor at the School of Public Health, UWC.

When: Friday, 3 March 2023

Time: 09h30 – 11h30

Venue: 1A, The School of Public Health, UWC

RSVP: https://forms.gle/qFujkNn897jw4TrC8

For more information, please contact:

soph-events@uwc.ac.za