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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Nancy L. Blum, MPH, MA and Kirill Burimski, MD. USP Drug Quality and Information Program, United States Pharmacopeia, 12601 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852, 301-816-8161, NLB@USP.org

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major clinical and public health problem in the world today. AMR is particularly serious in developing countries where rates of resistance are higher than in developed nations and where fewer therapeutic options are available. The situation is especially dire in the least developed countries, which bear the heaviest burden of infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Drug resistance leads to higher treatment costs, increased morbidity and mortality, and, in some cases permanent loss of specific drug therapies. AMR is caused by several factors including suboptimal treatment due to use of poor quality medicines (substandard and counterfeit drugs).

The United States Pharmacopeia Drug Quality and Information (USP DQI) program, under a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development, has been engaged in a wide range of drug quality-related activities in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, since October 2000. Such activities include monitoring the quality of antimalarials, anti-TB, and antiretrovirals; other antibiotics are planned for inclusion in the future. This session will present results from the USP DQI drug quality monitoring activities, data on counterfeit drugs from WHO, the Pharmaceutical Security Institute and other organizations and discuss recent resistance data for medicines used for malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives: