NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has partnered with mPedigree Network and PopOut to launch the PREVENT initiative, which looks to employ technology to crack down on fake and counterfeit medicines.

PREVENT – which stands for “Patients’ Research, Empowerment, Vigilance, and Education Through New Technologies” – is looking to prevent fake and counterfeit medicines from entering the Ghanaian supply chain by improving vigilance, empowering patients, and educating the public.

This will be done through social media and the mPedigree Goldkeys platform, which enables patients and customers to use their mobile phones to verify medicines at various pharmacies.

“Once a fake or counterfeit medicine slips through the system and enter a pharmacy, the harm has already been done,” said James Ohemeng Kyei, president of the PSGH. “This is now even more critical as this country confronts epidemics such as Cholera, and as fears are mounting about Ebola. Fake antibiotics and other medicines would only undermine the control of epidemics.”