Donation of two GPHF-Minilabs on the occasion of a proud anniversary
300 compact laboratories in service / Effective protection from counterfeit medicines
Global Pharma Health Fund e.V. (GPHF), a charitable organisation initiated and funded by Merck Darmstadt Germany, is celebrating a proud anniversary these days: the 300th GPHF-Minilab® is now in operation. The GPHF-Minilab is a mobile compact laboratory suitable for the tropics that is unique worldwide for the fast and reliable testing of the quality of medicines. It has been specifically developed for the detection of counterfeit pharmaceuticals or medicines of substandard quality which are widespread in developing countries, and which in many cases have caused the death of unsuspecting people. On the occasion of the consignment of the 300th laboratory kit, GPHF has now made available two additional GPHF-Minilabs for service in Haiti and in Burundi.
The recipient of the GPHF-Minilab in Haiti is the “Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs“ (NPFS) organisation which, in the Caribbean island state that is one of the poorest countries in the world, operates among other things a children’s hospital that concentrates on the treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer and malnutrition. In future, the laboratory donated by the GPHF will be continuously testing the quality of the pharmaceuticals used locally.
In Burundi, the donation from Germany, according to the intention of the recipients, could even constitute the basis of a State testing laboratory which has been lacking up to now in this African State. A first step in this direction is training pharmaceutical technical assistants at a school specifically established for this purpose, where the Minilab from GPHF is also to be integrated. With its simple methods, the trainees will be able to analyse pharmaceuticals and determine their quality in a short time.
Dr. Jürgen Knackmuss, chairman of GPHF says: “We are proud that 300 of our laboratory kits are now in service worldwide. As we know, in many countries there are still too few establishments able to test the quality of the medicines offered locally reliably and continuously. With our laboratory, and its simple but reliable methods, we are able to make a very real contribution to more safety in the medicines made available to the population.”
The GPHF-Minilab is now in use on all continents but the focal points are countries in Africa and South-East Asia. More than 40 of the most fundamental and most commonly used pharmaceuticals worldwide can be tested with the laboratory. The GPHF-Minilab, its method of operation, the active agents it is able to analyse and the current areas of application, are presented in detail on the GPHF Internet site. (www.gphf.org).
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