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Test against counterfeit drugs Following several years' development work in Germany and an extensive test phase in Africa and Asia, the GPHF is to present the "GPHF Minilab®" to the public in September. The Minilab is a simple test method for detecting counterfeit and substandard medicines that has been developed jointly by GPHF in collaboration with Professor Peter Pachaly (Bonn University) and the Medical Missionary Institute in Würzburg. During a press briefing in Frankfurt am Main scheduled for 15 September, representatives of GPHF and the Medical Missionary Institute will demonstrate the Minilab and its operation. The press briefing is to be followed by a separate presentation of the test methods for development aid organizations.
GPHF Project Manager Dr. Richard Jähnke is currently making the final adjustments to the Minilab kit, which is to be sold through Technologie Transfer Marburg (TTM). The complete mini-laboratory allows 15 of the most important active drug substances to be determined quantitatively and qualitatively and is supplied in two cases weighing just 20 kg. In October Dr. Jähnke will also present the GPHF Minilab® to the Arbeitskreis für medizinische Entwicklungshilfe (AKME) [= study group for medical development aid]. A further presentation is planned for the conference on the "Theory and Practice of Humanitarian Aid" on 16 - 18 October 1998 and organized by the Berlin Medical Association. An 8-page information brochure on the GPHF Minilab®, the kit and its numerous applications will be obtainable in September, free of charge, from the GPHF office at GPHF, Postfach 150 123, 60061 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Tel./Fax: (+49) (0) 69 / 63 15 32 57. The office can also supply a leaflet on "Drug counterfeiting", now available in an updated version.
So who or what is ...
TTM? Planning - delivery - resupply: the three pillars supporting the vision of TTM, which a few weeks ago acquired new premises in Cölbe, near Marburg. From demand assessment, through production and installation to further training, TTM offers a comprehensive programme designed to achieve a sustained improvement in healthcare provision in developing countries. Thus, TTM determines, on the spot, the need for medical technology and draws up equipment proposals adapted to local conditions and the available budget. In this way, for example, lists are drawn up of individual items of equipment for laboratories, operating rooms and maternity wards for hospitals or small health clinics. But TTM also manufactures products required to cope with the difficult conditions in developing countries. Such products must be both durable and simple to operate, and this service extends to customized products. Thus, for example, a VW bus has been converted into a mobile practice, including all examination equipment, for an African ophthalmologist. TTM also overhauls and refurbishes used medical equipment from Germany that is subsequently sold at cost price for use in health projects throughout the world. If necessary, TTM technicians can also install the equipment on site. Over the past year, TTM has already assembled ten prototypes, for GPHF, of the Minilab for the detection of counterfeit drugs. As a result of the positive impression made on GPHF during this collaborative venture, GPHF has decided to continue working closely with TTM on its Minilab® project. Contact address: Technologie Transfer Marburg in die Dritte Welt e.V. (TTM), Auf der Kupferschmiede 1, D-35091 Cölbe, Germany. Tel. (+49) (0) 64 21 / 8 73 73 - 0, Fax: - 73.
GPHF survey The member drug manufacturers of the Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller (VFA) [Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers] and GPHF regularly donate large quantities of drugs for improving healthcare provision in all parts of the globe - this is the main conclusion of a survey on the subject of drug donations conducted by the GPHF office in the Spring of 1998. The purpose of the survey was to give GPHF Board members some indication of the future commitment of the association in this area. Having evaluated the results of the survey, in which a total of 31 companies took part, the GPHF Board has now decided to develop measures specifically designed to improve the exchange of information between the donating companies in the area of drug donation. Under the direction of GPHF Board member Dr. Fink-Anthe, GPHF is currently drawing up a concrete project plan.
GPHF project operations The GPHF-sponsored projects designed to improve healthcare provision in Laos, Mauritania and Indonesia are proceeding according to plan. All three projects are being run locally in close cooperation with the World Health Organization and are designed as regional model projects, so that their results can, in future, be applied to regions or countries with comparable health problems. In the projects in Laos and Mauritania the GPHF is thus working closely with WHO's Control of Tropical Diseases department In the province of Champasak in the South West of Laos, GPHF is committed to the development of an efficient infrastructure for the diagnosis and treatment of the widespread parasitic infections. Following the successful completion of the first project phase, which focused on the provision of comprehensive project equipment and a prevalence survey, a new agreement between WHO and the GPHF designed to ensure the continuation of the project in 1998 and 1999 has now been signed. The goal of the project partners is to achieve a sustained reduction in the infection rates within this period and to establish an efficient system of basic healthcare provision. An interim report forwarded to the GPHF at the end of May once again confirmed the optimistic hopes placed on the model project in Mauritania for the reduction and permanent control of schistosomiasis and parasitic intestinal infections. On the basis of the available interim results, the World Health Organization has already invited the GPHF to continue this collaborative venture in Mauritania over the next few years. However, the GPHP will only be able to reach a decision on this matter at the earliest after completion and evaluation of the first project phase at the end of this year. Regardless of the economic and political problems in Indonesia, the 12-month model project for the diagnosis of iodine deficiency disorders also appears to be running according to plan. In Indonesia, iodine deficiency disorders primarily affect children and pose a major public health problem. The diagnostic measures supported by GPHF, with cooperation from, among others, the University of Jakarta, form one part of a comprehensive information campaign designed to explain the health hazards of iodine deficiency to the Indonesian population.
During its 51st General Assembly in Geneva in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented the latest World Health Report. Entitled "Life in the 21st Century - a Perspective for All", the Report looks at the prospects for worldwide health development up to the year 2025. WHO assumes that by this time the global population will have grown to eight billion. Although malnutrition and infectious diseases in children will decline in the 21st century according to healthcare experts in Geneva, they nevertheless anticipate that, worldwide in 2025, five million children will still die each year before they reach the age of 5. At the same time, WHO forecasts a further increase in average life expectancy, though this differs by as much as 30 years between individual industrialized and developing countries. While WHO predicts a further increase in cardiovascular and cerebral disorders and cancer, developing countries will also have to prepare themselves for future increases in life-style-related illnesses. Given the current 1997 data confirming that well-known infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria are again seeking out victims in their millions in developing countries, the prospects do not seem particularly optimistic.
A new start for WHO? This year's General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva attended by delegates from 191 countries was of particular significance in two respects. Firstly, WHO was celebrating its 50th anniversary, secondly, the election of Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland as the new General Director has raised many hopes for the future role of the international health organization.
The constitution of WHO entered into force on 7 April 1948, a date still celebrated as World Health Day. Despite all the recent, and in some cases certainly justified, criticism, the overall impact of WHO can only be described as beneficent and indispensable. Its remarkable past successes, for example in the field of epidemic control, forcefully demonstrate the extent to which concerted action can achieve a lasting improvement in the health situation for many millions of people . Even though the goal once formulated by WHO of "Health for all" has had to be revised in favour of a more realistic approach, we have to ask ourselves who other than the World Health Organization would be in a position to approach this goal in the future. In light of this situation, the election of Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland has raised many hopes. Even in her inaugural address Dr. Brundtland commendably referred to one simple fact that is crucial to the future of world health: the responsibility of national policy. While WHO can set norms and standards and help in implementing health programmes, all its programmes will ultimately remain ineffective unless their implementation is viewed primarily as a task of national health policy. One can only agree with WHO's new General Director when she describes investment in health as the one truly essential investment in the future of mankind. Equally welcome was Dr. Brundtland's plea to those engaged in international politics to realize that health should not be viewed under the heading of "Miscellaneous", but should be placed at the top of the agenda and that new partnerships would be needed if WHO's goals are to be achieved. As an initiative of the research-based drug manufacturers in Germany, the GPHF has already been working for some ten years with the World Health Organization in various health projects in Africa and Asia. This partnership has certainly proved effective. As far as the GPHF is concerned, WHO is not starting afresh, but simply reflecting on its genuine strengths. In this sense it deserves to be supported in future.
"A problem that has long been on the agenda but one that
will probably need to receive increased attention over the next ten years is the provision
of medicines to people in the Third World. We must assume that the governments and
industries of the industrialized countries will be tasked with the job of finding
corresponding solutions within a relatively short period."
GPHF 1998 appeal for donations The GPHF thanks the following donors for their generous support of its project operations in 1998:
In brief According to international experts, the severe financial crisis in Asia will have direct effects on the provision of healthcare to the region's inhabitants. A spokesperson for the United Nations Development Programme highlighted predictions that any further pressure on public sector spending in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines threatens to wreck the hard-earned advances achieved in healthcare over the past few decades.
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