Iloh G U, Akodu B A, Emeka E A, Obi I V
Department of Family Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rhema University, Aba, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2021 Nov 30;Vol. 38(11):1029-1035.
Substandard and falsified medicines pose a serious threat to public health throughout the world but disproportionately afflict under-resourced nations with weak pharmaceutical regulatory mechanisms. The prescription of medicines is an event in which a medical practitioner(MP) is a decision maker for the ultimate consumer who is the patient.
The study was aimed at describing awareness, identification, utilization, and barriers to utilization of point of-care overt anti-counterfeit medicine technologies(ACMTs) and the drivers, dangers and preventive measures of substandard and falsified medicines among MPs in Abia State.
This was a cross-sectional study done on 178 MPs in Abia State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that elicited information on awareness, identification, utilization of overt ACMTs and its barriers. The drivers, dangers and preventive measures for substandard and falsified medicines were also studied.
The mean age±SD of the respondents was 34±8.2 (Range 24-72 years). There were 159(89.3%) males. All the respondents (100%) were aware of the point-of-care overt ACMTs with the most commonly identified types being labelling (100%), packaging (100%), printing graphics (100%), and mobile authentication numbers(MAN) (100%). The most commonly utilized ACMTs were labelling (100%), packaging (100%) and printing (100%) technologies. Time constraint (100%) was the predominant predisposing barrier to utilization of overt ACMTs. The commonest classes of falsified and substandard medicines were anti-malarial (100%), anti-bacterial (100%) and analgesics (100%). The most common driver and danger of substandard and falsified medicines alluded to by the respondents were poor pharmaceutical products regulatory systems (100%) and treatment failures (100%), respectively. The most recommended preventive measure was securing supply chain of medicines (100%).
Awareness of point-of-care overt ACMTs was very high but did not appear to translate to comparable utilizations for all types. The most commonly utilized overt ACMTs were labelling, packaging and printing technologies. Time constraint was identified as a possible predominant barrier to utilization of overt ACMTs. The commonest classes of substandard and falsified medicines were anti-malarial, anti-bacterial and analgesic medicines. It was believed that the commonest driver of substandard and falsified medicines was poor pharmaceutical products regulatory system and all these could result in treatment failures. Securing supply chain of medicinal products may serve as an effective preventive measure.
劣质药和假药对全球公众健康构成严重威胁，但在制药监管机制薄弱、资源匮乏的国家，影响尤为严重。开处方是一个医疗从业者为最终消费者即患者做出决策的过程。
本研究旨在描述阿比亚州医疗从业者对即时可用的公开抗假药技术（ACMTs）的知晓情况、识别情况、使用情况及使用障碍，以及劣质药和假药的驱动因素、危害和预防措施。
这是一项针对尼日利亚阿比亚州178名医疗从业者开展的横断面研究。通过自行填写问卷收集数据，问卷内容涉及对公开ACMTs的知晓、识别、使用情况及其障碍。同时还研究了劣质药和假药的驱动因素、危害和预防措施。
受访者的平均年龄±标准差为34±8.2岁（范围24 - 72岁）。男性有159人（89.3%）。所有受访者（100%）都知晓即时可用的公开ACMTs，最常识别的类型是标签（100%）、包装（100%）、印刷图形（100%）和移动认证码（MAN）（100%）。最常使用的ACMTs是标签（100%）、包装（100%）和印刷（100%）技术。时间限制（100%）是公开ACMTs使用的主要促成障碍。最常见的劣质药和假药类别是抗疟疾药（100%）、抗菌药（100%）和镇痛药（100%）。受访者提到的劣质药和假药最常见的驱动因素和危害分别是药品监管体系不完善（100%）和治疗失败（100%）。最推荐的预防措施是确保药品供应链安全（100%）。
对即时可用的公开ACMTs的知晓度很高，但似乎并非所有类型都有相应的使用情况。最常使用的公开ACMTs是标签、包装和印刷技术。时间限制被确定为公开ACMTs使用的一个可能的主要障碍。最常见的劣质药和假药类别是抗疟疾药、抗菌药和镇痛药。人们认为劣质药和假药最常见的驱动因素是药品监管体系不完善，所有这些都可能导致治疗失败。确保药品供应链安全可能是一种有效的预防措施。
