Panel 3: Jeremiah Mwangi, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations

At the third panel, "Safe Medicines: The Role of Patients & Healthcare Professionals," Jeremiah Mwangi, Policy & External Affairs Director, International Alliance of Patients' Organizations, spoke on the role of patients.  

Mwangi said that counterfeit drugs are a matter of patient safety, eroding trust in healthcare systems, and creating a public health risk.

IAPO has called for a global approach to implement policies to protect patients from counterfeit medical products.  Mwangi reinforced Alex Dahl's call for stronger penalites for counterfeiters.  Additionally, IAPO is seeking strengthen the supply chain, and increasing consumer knowledge on the risks to purchasing medications from suspect sources.  He concluded that patients should have access to safe, high quality and appropriate treatments and feel secure that they will receive accurate, relevant and comprehensive information.  

Patients need to be diligent, but can't be solely responsible for making sure that they're  medicines are safe.