Save the Children blog - Right time. Right place. Right medicine: Why functioning regulatory systems are the bedrock of access to medicine (17 September 2019)

Summary

Despite global consensus that access to pharmaceuticals as a lifesaving commodity is a fundamental human right, 2 billion people globally still lack access to medicines. In this blog, Karrar Karrar, Access to Medicines Adviser at Save the Children, looks at why weak regulatory systems are a major patient safety issue in low- and middle-income countries. He highlights that lack of regulatory capacity results in falsified, substandard and fake medicines making their way into local pharmacies and hospitals. It also delays patient access to new medicines due to lengthy processing times. Karrar argues that governments must prioritise investments in strengthening national regulatory systems and increase cross-country collaboration to strengthen regional and global regulatory networks and systems.