Minilabs save lives

19/08/2026

Africa Patient Safety Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, September 2026

The Africa Patient Safety Summit, taking place on 16–17 September 2026 at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda, aims to provide a platform for translating the World Health Organization’s Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030 into a practical African agenda for the medicines ecosystem. With an estimated 10–30% of medicines in low- and middle-income countries being substandard or falsified, and 42% of globally reported cases detected in Africa, poor-quality medicines pose a major public health and economic challenge. The Summit brings together regulators, clinicians, industry, researchers, and communities to address systemic weaknesses such as counterfeit medicines, fragmented supply chains, inadequate surveillance, medication errors, and weak pharmacovigilance. Rather than serving as a consultation, it is designed as a platform for coordinated action, including the implementation of practical solutions such as technologies for detecting substandard and falsified medicines, for example GPHF-Minilabs. Its ultimate goal is to create a safer, patient-centred African medicines ecosystem in which coordinated policies and interventions translate into measurable improvements in the lives of patients and communities. The Africa Patient Safety Summit is hosted by Medicines for Africa in partnership with the African Medicines Agency. For more details and conference registration visit the link as follows:

A focused leadership process to advance practical action on medicines safety and patient protection across Africa.

12/08/2026

New pharmaceutical quality assurance guide for WHO/UN member states and programmes

The 59th Expert Committee on ‘Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations’ meeting report is now online available (1). Regulatory inspection is one of the tools for detecting substandard and falsified medical products in the market. A risk-based, tiered approach to testing products is recommended, particularly in limited-resource settings. For example, the use of field-based screening technologies, which may test for identity, content and other quality attributes in combination with compendial testing is now an allowable tiered approach. The GPHF-Minilab from the Global Pharma Health Fund is such a screening tool. The new guidelines emphasise their role in ensuring that quality assurance is clearly embedded within procurement processes and is not carried out only after the fact. The new guidances, for example, on ‘Good regulatory practices for market surveillance and control of medical products’ (Annex 9) are now recommended for use to Member States and WHO/UN programmes. Reference is also made to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) supply chain security toolkit (2). For more details consult (1) https://tinyurl.com/mr22p82j and (2) https://tinyurl.com/3jw6t6bw

09/07/2026

New book on pharmacovigilance in resource-limited countries includes chapter on substandard and falsified medicines

Special Issues in Pharmacovigilance in Resource-Limited Countries, edited by Syed R. Ahmad, a Pharmacovigilance & Regulatory System Strengthening Consultant, is a timely and highly valuable contribution to the fields of pharmacovigilance, regulatory science, poor-quality pharmaceuticals and global public health. One of the book’s most notable achievements is its global perspective. Rather than focusing on a single healthcare system, the volume presents detailed analyses of pharmacovigilance practices across a diverse range of countries and regions. The chapters examine experiences from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, countries in the Arab world, Pacific Island nations, Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sierra Leone, and other African settings. In addition to these country-specific discussions, several chapters address broader themes such as vaccine pharmacovigilance, medication errors, substandard and falsified medicines, signal detection, and pharmacovigilance capacity building. The discussion of substandard and falsified medicines deserves particular recognition. In many resource-limited settings, poor-quality medicines represent a significant threat to patient safety and public confidence in healthcare systems. The authors demonstrate how weak regulatory oversight, supply-chain vulnerabilities, and insufficient quality control mechanisms can contribute to the circulation of illegal and unsafe medicines. By integrating discussions of medicine quality with pharmacovigilance activities, the volume adopts a holistic approach that reflects the realities faced by healthcare systems in many developing countries. The book is published by Springer Nature Singapore (2025, 378 pages, ISBN: 978-981-96-6153-4). For more, consult https://tinyurl.com/49cru7e5

04/07/2026

How to identify falsified DARZALEX products in Maldives, Mexico and other countries

The WHO has issued an alert about two falsified batches of DARZALEX (batch numbers MYS7381 and STV1K01) identified in the Maldives and Mexico after being supplied through unauthorized distributors. The falsified products may contain no active ingredient, the wrong ingredients, or harmful substances, and one batch was found to contain visible particulate matter, indicating possible contamination. Use of these products may result in ineffective treatment, disease progression, infections, or other serious injection-related complications. WHO advises that these batches must not be used, suspected products and adverse events should be reported to the relevant authorities ([email protected]), and DARZALEX should only be obtained from authorized suppliers. Genuine DARZALEX is a monoclonal antibody used to treat rare blood disorders. For more information consult https://tinyurl.com/5dbhp893

18/06/2026

Falsified Ruxolitinib identified in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

The WHO has issued a warning about three falsified batches of JAKAVI (ruxolitinib), a medicine used to treat certain serious blood disorders and complications after stem cell transplantation. The counterfeit products were identified in Iran, Russia, and Türkiye and were sold to patients through online platforms and, in some cases, pharmacies. Novartis confirmed that the batch numbers AVT50, FNR06, and SGL04 are not genuine, and analysis of one sample found that it contained no active ingredient. Use of these falsified products may lead to treatment failure, disease progression, and an increased risk of death. WHO advises patients and healthcare professionals not to use these products, report any suspected cases, and obtain medicines only from authorized suppliers. For more details consult tinyurl.com/22euwtbn

10/06/2026

The Gambia: Medicines testing now expanded from GPHF-Minilab to a fully-fledged lab

Last week, Gambia’s President Adama Barrow inaugurated the country’s first national food and drug quality control laboratory. The project is estimated to be worth US$10 million and was funded by the World Bank. The new laboratory is expected to drastically improve public health and consumer safety by enabling local testing of medicines and food. With the exception of the GPHF Minilab, which was made available to the country back in 2009, The Gambia has so far lacked domestic testing infrastructure, meaning that time-sensitive and complex samples had to be sent to laboratories abroad. This new facility will help the Ministry of Health and the Medicines Authority to detect substandard or falsified products and strengthen nationwide health security. For more information you want to go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUE_13QTHH4

01/06/2026

Joint Europol and Eurojust investigation team cracks down on the trade in falsified medicines

Europol has successfully supported an international operation targeting a large-scale criminal network involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of counterfeit medicines and food supplements. The operation, which was carried out in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Moldova, and for which requests for mutual legal assistance were made in a further ten countries, aimed to dismantle the infrastructure of this illegal trade. To this end, a joint investigation team was set up at Eurojust. Further information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/nhcznprd.

22/05/2026

Millions of falsified medicines seized

An operation coordinated by INTERPOL across 90 countries and regions has led to the seizure of 6.42 million doses of unauthorised and counterfeit medicines worth US$15.5 million. Operation Pangea XVIII from March this year resulted in 269 arrests and the dismantling of 66 criminal groups involved in the illegal trade in medicines. Law enforcement agencies worldwide launched 392 investigations and executed 158 search warrants against criminal networks distributing unauthorised, counterfeit, substandard and falsified medical products. Among the most frequently seized products were medicines for erectile dysfunction, sedatives, painkillers, antibiotics and smoking cessation products. In addition, as part of digital enforcement measures, around 5,700 criminally operated websites, social media pages, channels and automated bots used to market and sell illegal medicines were taken down. For more information on the operation see here: https://tinyurl.com/f2duf8aa

02/04/2026

The Minilab from the www.GPHF.org is second to none. It has been installed a thousand times worldwide, and it feels like you can find one in every galaxy. Here, aliens are collecting GPHF-Minilabs destined for another solar system😊The GPHF team wishes the Artemis-II team a good trip to the moon.