Quality of medicines and public health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC): a review
International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing
ISSN: 1750-6123
Article publication date: 31 August 2023
Issue publication date: 16 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Increased outsourcing and importation of drugs from different parts of the world to the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region result in the proliferation of substandard and fake medicines, posing a threat to public health. The presence of substandard and fake medications in LAC regions is a source of public health concern and causes an economic burden to the governments in these regions. Whereas testing and detecting medication quality can easily be achieved in developed countries, the situation is different in developing countries such as LAC. This paper aims to examine the public health challenges faced by LAC regarding substandard, fake and counterfeit medicines and how the region can tackle these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Databases such as Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Embase, HINARI, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, unpublished data, conference abstracts and papers from World Health Organization, Pan-American Health Organization and electronic newspapers were searched concerning medicine quality and in LAC.
Findings
Drug treatment improves the quality of life while decreasing morbidity and mortality among diseased populations. Absence of or inadequate testing laboratories, old and ineffective legislature, lack of enforcement or willpower and lack of effective surveillance are challenges in LAC for the proliferation of substandard and falsified medicines (SFMs).
Research limitations/implications
The most significant limitation of this study was the need for the reviewers to have used articles written in other languages besides English. The LAC region has a large population in non-English-speaking countries, and many articles are written using local languages. Hence, excluding those articles is a limitation worthy of note in this review. The articles accessed needed to provide adequate information on SFM markets and illegal pharmacies or hospitals but did not. Future reviews may focus on providing illegal substandard and falsified medicines markets in the region and how they can be minimized or eliminated.
Originality/value
This review highlights the challenges faced by LAC countries regarding substandard, fake and counterfeit medicines. The sources, prevalence and consequences of substandard and falsified drugs were identified to suggest the measures needed to curb the infiltration of low-quality medicines in LAC.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Lisa Johnson, and the Chair, Allied Health Department, Mrs. Lydia Harris-Thurton.
Funding: No funding was received for this manuscript.
Authors’ contributions: Danladi Chiroma Husaini – corresponding author, Conceived, supervised, reviewed and edited the final draft.
Florita Bolon, Natasha Smith, Rhondine Reynolds, Shenille Humes and Verlene Cayetano, Researched databases and wrote the initial draft.
All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable.
Consent for publication: Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials: All the data and materials were presented.
Competing interests: There are no competing interests to declare for all authors.
Citation
Husaini, D.C., Bolon, F., Smith, N., Reynolds, R., Humes, S. and Cayetano, V. (2023), "Quality of medicines and public health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC): a review", International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 654-674. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-07-2022-0061
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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