Claude Dussart

Dealing with illegal pharmaceutical sales over the Internet; can we benefit from lessons learned from informal drug sellers in Africa?

An international week of action targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illicit medicines was coordinated by Interpol and the World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce in 24 countries. It resulted in a series of arrest and seizure of thousands of potential harmful medical products. More than 700 Web sites engaged in illegal activities have been discovered, 72 of which have been taken down. Although parallel pharmaceutical markets may be relatively recent in northern countries, informal drug sellers have been present for decades in Africa. This article questions whether this parallel could be extended to recommended management and control. Buying medicines over the Internet is not, per se, unsafe or illegal. Some sites provide adequate information and control. However, many online sales are questionably appropriate, at best. In terms of public health, sellers use specific national legislation (such as no need for medical prescription or pharmaceutical review) to deliver products all over the world. In terms of economy, they benefit from price differences between countries, thus transgressing sales contracts with pharmaceutical industries and customs regulations. Some sites are totally illegal because they propose counterfeit products.

E-formation à la stérilisation en situation d’isolement: solution retenue par l’armée Française

French Army Health Service provides medical support for armed forces deployed on external missions.In order to ensure the same health care quality in the theatre and in the metropolis, the Military Health Service provides sterilization of reusable medical devices by its own means. Army pharmacists carrying out an on-site mission comes from different domains: medical biology laboratory, research, medical supplies, hospital pharmacy or yet pharmaceutical laboratory for some reservists. Training program for sterilization in isolated military operations areas is therefore necessary in order to ensure knowledge uniformity. Our study is organized in two parts: determination of the needs and of the adapted training modalities, then implementation of training itself. This training should be accessible to a geographically dispersed public whose levels of expertise in sterilization are disparate. The module «Préparation opérationnelle à la stérilisation en Opération Extérieure» carried out allows to update and standardize the knowledge of the deployed pharmacists. It is composed of 11 sub-modules covering the different aspects of sterilization during external missions. Assessment using multiple-choice questions (MCQ) is necessary to check the level of knowledge and to understanding at the end of the training. A 75% good response rate is requested to validate the training. Training content has been approved by the National referents for sterilization and it is already available on the e-learning platform of the École du Val de Grâce.