Fight the Fakes Alliance member, Adam Aspinall, recently attended the Global Health Security Conference in Sydney on behalf of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). At the conference, a forum that engages stakeholders to help achieve a healthier and safer world, Aspinall discussed the need to protect against substandard and falsified medical products on multiple occasions.
During a breakfast meeting organized by the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) looking at how lessons from other therapeutic areas could be applied to the fight against antibiotic resistance, Aspinall spoke about drug diversification and the need to protect against falsified and substandard medicines.
Picture: Mel Spigelman (CEO, TB Alliance), Justin MacBeath (CEO, IVCC), Mark Sullivan (CEO, Medicine Development for Health) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Adam Aspinall.
The following day, Aspinall participated in a panel discussion organized by MMV and chaired by investigative medical journalist Dr. Norman Swift. Other panelists included Lady Ros Morauta, Chair of the Board of the Global Fund, and Dr Rungrawee, Head of the Thai National Malaria Programme. At this panel, Aspinall spoke about the future of drug development in the context of accelerating malaria elimination. He also discussed the issue of substandard and falsified medicines, especially in Africa, and emphasized that malaria cannot be eliminated without addressing the issue of fake and substandard antimalarials.
Picture: Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Adam Aspinall, Head of Malaria Programme at Thai Ministry of Health Dr Rungrawee, Chair of Global Fund Board Lady Ros Morauta, and investigative medical journalist Dr Norman Swan.
To conclude his time at the conference, Aspinall gave an oral presentation as part of the “Critical Health Security Challenges: Malaria & Tuberculosis” session on “Novel interventions to mitigate resistance to ACTs in uncomplicated malaria.” Again, the problem of substandard and falsified medical products came up in discussion during the question-and-answer portion of his presentation, and the topic drew a lot of attention from the audience.
