Quality of Medical Products and Public Health

Welcome to the course website for the Quality of Medical Products and Public Health course. This course is offered in conjunction with Boston University’s Population Health Exchange, School of Public Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and will be taught at Boston University in Boston, MA USA July 10-14, 2017.

Course Description

Poor quality of medicines affects all countries but in particular vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. There is increasing interest in poor quality medical products, their epidemiology, detection, and impact and how to intervene to reduce their frequency. The number of research groups and international organizations working in this field has seen a modest increase over the past decade, accompanied by the growing engagement of medicines regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry.

In spite of some progress there are many remaining challenges, from legal issues to the lack of funding, and more evidence is needed to help inform policy and build research capacity. This course will address the need to build capacity in quality assurance of medical products, and stimulate more research and action in this neglected field. Hosted at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2015 and 2016, this short course on Quality of Medical Products and Public Health will be hosted by Boston University School of Public Health in July 2017.

Competencies

By the end of this course participants will learn to understand and discuss issues related to:

  • Medicine quality definitions;
  • The epidemiology of poor quality medicines and the data gaps that need to be filled;
  • The basics of medicine regulation, GMP and laws as they relate to medicines quality;
  • The basics of chemical & packaging analysis and rapid tests;
  • The steps needed to improve the global supply of quality assured medicines and how advocate for them.

Acknowledgements

We thank the PQM, a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by USP, for supporting four country participants from Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as two faculty members using USAID funds. We also thank Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) for providing scholarship funding for three country participants from Sub-Saharan African countries. Finally, we would like to acknowledge all the faculty for their generous contributions of time and funding to support this course.

 

BUSPH London School PHX