New organization continues unique, worldwide project for identifying counterfeit drugs
GPHF-Minilab® is now under the stewardship of the Global Pharma Health Fund, an initiative of the pharmaceutical company, Merck, based in Darmstadt, Germany.
The GPHF-Minilab®, a unique, worldwide, mobile lab for identifying counterfeit drugs will in future be provided by Global Pharma Health Fund e.V. (GPHF) for operational use in developing countries. The new organization, which was launched on July 1, 2007, is supported exclusively by Merck. The new fund is the successor to the German Pharma Health Fund e.V., which, as a joint initiative embracing several German pharmaceutical companies, sponsored numerous health care projects in developing countries between 1985 and 2007, including the development and testing of the GPHF-Minilab®.
In the last ten years, the GPHF-Minilab® has proven to be a highly successful tool in the fight against low-grade and counterfeit drugs. There are now 240 labs operating in 65 countries in the world. Most of the labs are concentrated in Africa and Asia, in countries which are most affected by the criminal activities of drug counterfeiters – not least because these countries lack the facilities for effective drug monitoring.
This gap is filled by the GPHF-Minilab® whose simple test methods now make it possible to quickly and reliably test for over 40 important active ingredients. It is possible to quickly determine whether a medicine really contains the right quantity of the stated ingredient. The GPHF-Minilab® has become an important pillar of local drug monitoring in many health care projects, including those run by the World Health Organisation .
The Global Pharma Health Fund offers comprehensive information about the GPHF-Minilab® and special training courses. These are conducted by a pharmacist, Dr. Richard Jähnke, who developed the minilab and has accompanied its introduction all over the world in recent years. The Management of the new Global Pharma Health Fund e.V. is confident that in the coming years many more GPHF-Minilab® units will be set up in close cooperation with international organizations and health authorities so that the increasing incidence of drug counterfeiting can be stemmed.
With the support of the Global Pharma Health Fund e.V., Merck is continuing the firm’s commitment to socially responsible projects. Only recently, in April, the firm, together with the World Health Organisation, WHO, set up a 10-year project for the prevention of schistosomiasis in African children, for which Merck is donating 200 million praziquantel tablets.
Editors:
Global Pharma Health Fund e. V. (GPHF)
Walther-von-Cronberg-Platz 6
60594 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Tel./Fax: +49 (0) 69 / 96 23 87 60-0 / -9
E-Mail: info@gphf.org
Internet: www.gphf.org
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