Health, economic, and social impact of substandard and falsified medicines in low- and middle- income countries - a systematic review of methodological approaches
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Little is known about the adverse health, economic, and social impacts of substandard and falsified medicines (SFMs). This systematic review aimed to identify the methods used in studies to measure the impact of SFMs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), summarize their findings, and identify gaps in the reviewed literature. A search of eight databases for published papers, and a manual search of references in the relevant literature were conducted using synonyms of SFMs and LMICs. Studies in the English language that estimated the health, social, or economic impacts of SFMs in LMICs published before June 17, 2022 were considered eligible. Search results generated 1,078 articles, and 11 studies were included after screening and quality assessment. All included studies focused on countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Six studies used the Substandard and Falsified Antimalarials Research Impact model to estimate the impact of SFMs. This model is an important contribution. However, it is technically challenging and data demanding, which poses challenges to its adoption by national academics and policymakers alike. The included studies estimate that substandard and falsified antimalarial medicines can account from 10% to ∼40% of total annual malaria costs, and SFMs affect rural and poor populations disproportionately. Evidence on the impact of SFMs is limited in general and nonexistent regarding social outcomes. Further research needs to focus on practical methods that can serve local authorities without major investments in terms of technical capacity and data collection.
Date Issued
2023-06-20
Date Acceptance
2023-03-10
Citation
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2023, 109 (2), pp.228-240
ISSN
0002-9637
Publisher
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Start Page
228
End Page
240
Journal / Book Title
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume
109
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 The author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original author and source are credited.
the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ajtmh.org/view/journals/tpmd/aop/article-10.4269-ajtmh.22-0525/article-10.4269-ajtmh.22-0525.xml?tab_body=abstract
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-06-20