Burden of and factors associated with poor quality antibiotic, antimalarial, antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicines in Malawi

by Francis Kachidza Chiumia, Happy Magwaza Nyirongo, Elizabeth Kampira, Adamson Sinjani Muula, Felix Khuluza ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence and factors associated with substandard and falsified (SF) medicines among antibiotic, antimalarial, antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicines in Malawi. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in 23 public, faith-based and private health facilities in Zomba, Machinga and Nsanje districts. We analyzed oral medicine samples of commonly used medicines among antibiotics, antimalarial, antihypertensive and antidiabetics in accordance with Malawi Essential Medicines List and local treatment guidelines. These medicines were subjected to visual inspection for any defects and screening for the content of active pharmaceutical ingredient and disintegration of dosage units. Samples that failed during screening and at least 10% of those that passed were subjected to pharmacopeia assay and dissolution test for confirmation. We used thin layer chromatography and disintegration test methods provided in the Global Pharma Health Fund minilab® for the screening purposes. We conducted confirmatory test using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) or ultra-violet/visible spectrophotometer and dissolution. ResultsOf the 293 medicine samples collected, 14.3% were SF medicines. Among the SF medicines were 12.5% of Amlodipine (1/8), 19.2% of Amoxicillin (5/26), 72.2% of Atenolol (8/11), 21.2% of Ciprofloxacin (7/33), 14.3% of Enalapril (1/7), 4...
Source: PLoS One - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research