Around the world, millions of people are at an increased risk of illness or death from taking poor-quality medicines used to prevent or treat devastating illnesses. With funding from partners like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), USP strengthens medicines quality assurance systems, increases the supply of quality-assured medicines, and develops capacity to detect and remove poor-quality medicines from the market. By sharing scientific expertise and providing technical support and leadership, we help local regulators improve and sustain local health systems, and enable manufacturers to supply quality-assured essential medicines for years to come. Through these efforts, we’re able to help prevent and treat diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases, and improve maternal, newborn and child health.
Helping to advance global health
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in global health supply chains, leading to shortages of essential medicines. With help from quality assurance experts like USP, local pharmaceutical manufacturers are stepping up to facilitate uninterrupted access to safe, effective medical products
Olakunle Ekundayo became a pharmacist to help others in need. And while his career ultimately took a different path, his role today as the CEO of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company has given him the opportunity to impact thousands of newborn lives in Nigeria, and beyond.
USP staff members across four offices in Africa and the United States share what it means to them personally to advance global public health through programs such as Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+), funded by USAID and implemented by USP.
Assuring the Quality of Medical Products around the World
From developing standards and advancing access to quality-assured medical products, to building the capacity of governments and the private sector, see how USP's work has strengthened quality assurance across the global medicines supply chain for 200 years.
Tapping into the power of pooled procurement
USP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa together developed a continental framework to establish a regional pooled procurement mechanism for essential reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health pharmaceutical products.
Building a resilient medicine supply chain to combat tuberculosis
Preventing, treating, and curing patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a major public health challenge in the Kyrgyz Republic and worldwide. In fact, the Kyrgyz Republic has one of the highest rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the world.
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Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus
The Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+) program, helps low- and middle-income countries strengthen the systems that ensure the quality and increase the supply of priority medicines. Funded by USAID, the PQM+ program is implemented by USP.
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Program highlights and news
- USP and DFAT Partner to strengthen laboratories and improve medicines quality in Cambodia and Laos
- Importance of medicine quality in achieving universal health coverage (PLOS ONE)
- Applying lessons from Ebola to the COVID-19 pandemic: Strengthening African health systems while scaling up testing
- Scaling up testing for COVID-19 in Africa: Responding to the pandemic in ways that strengthen health systems (African Journal of Laboratory Medicine)
- An entire continent without medicine. Can sub-Saharan Africa produce its own drugs? (El Pais)
- A call to boost African manufacturing for COVID-19 and other vaccines
- Africa-led solutions to expedite access to COVID-19 vaccines
- The COVID catalyst: Innovating across sectors for improved access to vaccines (Devex World)
- Scaling Up African Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in a Time of COVID-19 (Council on Foreign Relations)
- COVID-19: USP offers guidance on strategic response model to African Regulatory Authorities (African Leadership Magazine)
- Low- and middle-income countries struggle with access to essential medicines (SupplyChainBrain.com)
Technology Review Program
In response to the rapid developments in medicine quality screening and detection technologies, USP launched the Technology Review program.
USP-Ghana
USP–Ghana works with partners to develop skills to deliver quality assured medicines to people who need them most.
The Quality Institute
Providing research and data to enable evidence-based policy decisions that can help increase the availability of quality medicines everywhere.