Substandard and falsified (SF) antimicrobials are a neglected global health problem and have been implicated as drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Substandard medicines are authorized medical products that fail to meet either their quality standards or their specifications, whereas falsified medicines are those that deliberately and fraudulently misrepresent their identity, composition or source. Host Angela Huttner is joined by Pernette Bourdillon Esteve, Technical Officer for the World Health Organization’s Substandard/falsified Medical Products group, and Ben Cooper, epidemiologist at Oxford University and head of its Drug-Resistant Infection and Disease Dynamics (DRIaDD), to explore the effects of SF antimicrobials on people and AMR.

This episode was edited by Kathryn Hostettler and peer-reviewed by Dr. Arjana Zerja of Mother Teresa University Hospital in Tirana, Albania.

Literature

Cavany S et al.  Nat Commun 14, 6153 (2023). doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41542-w

WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System for substandard and falsified medical products (2017). https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241513425