QUALITY MEDICINE FOR ALL

The global pharmaceutical market is characterized by the coexistence of varied quality standards : where patients in rich, strictly regulated countries can generally rely on the efficiency, safety and intrinsic quality of the medicines available to them, a large majority of people in resource-limited countries are at risk of receiving or buying poor quality pharmaceuticals. This difference is due to many reasons, among which we can mention :

– lack of resources from regulatory authorities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
– the growing complexity and globalization of the pharmaceutical market
– the increasing pressure on prices to the detriment of a clear definition of the required quality standards
– limited awareness of the problem among key stakeholders, including some of the largest donors
– the lack of public and transparent information about the quality of medicines
– and finally the lack of political will at national and international level.

Although the problem posed by falsified medicines is the subject of a growing number of global initiatives, that of substandard drugs – the extent of which is very worrying in the LMICs – remains insufficiently taken into account. Substandard drugs, however, have at least as negative an impact on the health of vulnerable populations as falsified drugs.

OUR GOALS AND STRATEGY

To contribute to improving access to quality medicines, QUAMED is based on several strategic axes

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The development of a network North / South to facilitate the sharing of reliable information on the sources of medicines and ease the communication between key players in pharmaceutical procurement. Rather than act independently the members plan their activities together relating to supplies and results of these activities are shared within the network via the database data.

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Streamlining the use of resources by pooling skills as well as human and financial resources across the network.

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The provision of recognized expertise in quality assurance and drug supply.

OUR CHARTER

Any member of the association adheres to the QUAMED Charter and considers the access to quality essential drugs as a human right, universal and inalienable. QUAMED and its members commit themselves therefore to make every effort to improve procurement practices into the pharmaceutical industry and to participate in a wider awareness of the problem. QUAMED is not involved in any manufacturing activity, distribution or sales of drugs.

OUR TEAM

QUAMED is a non-profit association based in France (law 1901).

Quamed members have extensive experience in the pharmaceutical, drug regulation and drug supply sectors in non-governmental organizations, international organizations and other institutions. They have worked, and continue to practice, in a wide variety of geographical and socio-economic contexts (Western Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe) in collaboration with organizations such as WHO, the Global Fund , UNICEF, UNITAID and a large number of international NGOs and purchasing organisations.

In addition to this group of experts, QUAMED has a network of external specialists that can be mobilized for consultations, technical support, physical or remote training sessions and other quality assurance related activities..

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is made up of recognized professionals with extensive international experience in quality and access to medicines.

Daniel Vandenbergh

Daniel Vandenbergh

President

Daniel Vandenbergh is a public health pharmacist, with more than 30 years of experience in various technical domains related to public health, PSM (Procurement and Supply Management) and LMIS (Logistics Management Information Systems). He has an in-depth knowledge of French-speaking African countries, both in Western and Central Africa, but has worked also in several English-speaking African countries (Zimbabwe, Liberia, Malawi). He also implemented missions in Asia (Lebanon, India, Cambodia).

Ed Vreeke

Ed Vreeke

Member of the board and executive director

Ed Vreeke's experience related to essential generic medicines and medical supplies is in the following fields: procurement and supply systems organisation, management, monitoring and evaluation, general management and organisation of Central Medical Stores, strategic and policy issues, business plan development, transitioning from government to independent organisation, development, organisation and management of tender processes, conception of revolving medicine funds, performance based financing systems, costing analysis.

Hugo Randé

Hugo Randé

Member

Hugo is Pharmacist Advisor for Action contre la Faim since 2016. Previously he worked for Medecin du Monde based in several west and central African countries. He is particularly concerned with operationalizing of pharmaceutical quality assurance in NGO's daily activities.

Jason Bower

Jason Bower

Secretary to the board

Jason has a pharmacist background and 10+ years experience in essential medicines management in health systems in LMIC. He currently works as an independent consultant specialising in quality assurance and procurement & supply management, and has been a member of QUAMED since 2013.

Edwin de Voogd

Edwin de Voogd

Treasurer

Edwin has an economic background and 30+ years’ experience in managing businesses in food and pharmaceuticals, predominantly in emerging markets. Initially in the private sector and later, at the cross road where private sector organisations collaborate with NGO’s and public health organisations. In the past 14+ years, he has specialised in setting up sustainable procurement, supply chain and distribution programs for humanitarian health care programs and partnership between funders, NGO’s, manufacturers and recipients. Edwin has been working with Quamed since 2012 and joined as a member this year.

Corinne Pouget

Corinne Pouget

Member

Corinne Pouget is a pharmacist, specializing in international regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She has been involved in Quamed activities since its inception.

Daniel Berman

Daniel Berman

Member

Daniel is the head of global health at a London-based innovation foundation called Nesta. He was a founding member of Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) Access to Medicines Campaign, where pharmaceutical and diagnostic quality assurance was a major focus. Before moving to London, he was a full-time consultant for WHO in Ethiopia on a government-led project to support local pharma companies including on GMP. Before that he was General Director of MSF Southern Africa, based in Johannesburg.

Technical Committee

The executive is advised and guided for technical matters by the technical Committee, a consultative body, composed of experienced professionalsand pharmacists from the regulatory, industrial, NGO and United Nations. A total of 14 experts are members of the Technical Committee.

Corinne Pouget

Corinne Pouget

President of the Technical Committee, pharmacist

Corinne Pouget is a pharmacist, specializing in international regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She has been involved in Quamed activities since its inception.

Raffaella Ravinetto

Raffaella Ravinetto

Vice President of the Technical Committee, pharmacist

Raffaella Ravinetto, trained as pharmacist, holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. She worked as clinical researcher in Europe, as pharmacist in humanitarian programs, and as Clinical Trials Unit’s head at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM). She is currently a senior researcher and policy advisor at ITM. Her research and teaching focus on medicines in resource-limited contexts. She is also the chairperson of ITM Institutional Review Board, and of the Ethics Review Board of Médecins Sans Frontières. Her main areas of interest include North-South collaborative research; research ethics, particularly in relation to resource-constrained settings and vulnerable populations; and access to quality-assured medicines, with a particular focus on the context of low- and middle-income countries. She was president of MSF Italy from 2007 to 2011.

Christophe Perrin

Christophe Perrin

Pharmacist member

After more than 10 years in clinical research and two field missions for Pharmacists Without Borders, I have focused my professional activities since 2005 on challenges that affect the supply of quality-assured medicines in limited-resource countries, as well as on access to affordable treatment and innovation for infectious and non-communicable diseases, mostly with Doctors Without Borders. With a background in Quality Assurance (QA) standards applying to clinical trials for the pharmaceutical industry, a constant track in my work for the past 15 years has consisted in implementing / developing / assessing QA and pharmaceutical procurement policies at donors (e.g., The Global Fund, DG ECHO, European bilateral cooperations, World Bank, UNITAID), pooled procurement mechanisms (e.g., Global Drug Facility, Asthma Drug Facility), humanitarian procurement agencies (e.g., IDA, Mission Pharma), central medical stores (e.g., FEDECAME in DRC, PPM in Mali, Camerwa in Ruanda), private wholesalers in more than 10 countries and health care providers (e.g., MSF, Merlin).

Patricia Tabernero Estévez

Patricia Tabernero Estévez

Pharmacist member

Olivier Andriolo

Olivier Andriolo

Pharmacist member

Olivier ANDRIOLLO is Quality Assurance Director of a wholesaler of generic medicines for developing countries. Olivier is graduated in pharmacy with a major in quality audit in pharmaceutical industry. Olivier started his career an NGO active in the procurement of medicines for humanitarian programs where he was in charge of quality control laboratory during 5 years. Then, after three years spent as quality manager in subcontractor pharmaceutical laboratory, he joined a wholesaler where he is in charge of the prequalification of manufacturers and medicines, the maintenance of the quality system of the company and the marketing authorizations. During the last decade, Olivier carried out quality audits of pharmaceutical manufacturers on behalf of his company and third parties as well. He was also an auditor of quality control laboratories and of quality management in pharmacy retail outlets. Olivier is Secretary of “International francophone association of college of pharmacist” (CIOPF).

Sandrine Cloëz

Sandrine Cloëz

Pharmacist member

Sandrine Cloëz is a pharmacist who specialises in the management and quality of medicines. She holds a PharmD and a MS’c in Quality assurance and bioproducts. She has 20 years of experience working in the field of pharmaceutical research, quality, supply and production at international level. She has worked in pharmaceutical production before working with international organisations/institutions and major public health NGOs in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe focusing on malaria, TB, HIV/AIDs but also programs aiming to improve access to all the other essential medicines She provided short-term support to countries in terms of analysis and/or reinforcement of their quality assurance and supply of essential medicines system in low income countries.

Thomas Chattaway

Thomas Chattaway

Pharmacist member

Benedetto Schiavetti

Benedetto Schiavetti

Pharmacist member

Jérôme Barré

Jérôme Barré

Pharmacist member

Cecile Macé

Cecile Macé

Pharmacist member

Cecile Macé is a public health pharmacist with a degree in tropical diseases. Her main skills are in procurement, quality assurance of health products, access and rational use of medicines. She has worked in Africa for more than ten years and has worked with MSF, the International Union Against Tuberculosis, WHO, and UNDP, among others.

Barbara Neitzert

Pharmacist member

Barbara is a pharmacist with 15-year experience in Health Procurement and Supply Management in developing countries with a focus on access, legal and regulatory framework and quality assurance of medicines in the not-for-profit sector. Barbara is now using her knowledge of the field and acquiring new skills to support the roll out of a medicine to treat a neglected tropical disease in Africa.

Olivier Depaire

Olivier Depaire

Pharmacist member

Olivier Depaire, pharmacien, passionné par les Sciences de la vie, ayant exercé pendant plus de 30 ans pour de grands laboratoires pharmaceutiques dans les domaines des Affaires Réglementaires et de la Qualité. Depuis 3 ans, impliqué dans des actions de formation GMDP, d’audits qualité et CMC, et de certification pour les spécialités pharmaceutiques et biotech, en Europe et en Afrique.

Joëlle Daviaud

Pharmacist member

Operational Team

The QUAMED operational team is a small multifunctional team that combines experience and knowledge from different fields: pharmacy, economics, management, accounting, purchasing and supply chain management, quality assurance, administration and communication.

Ed Vreeke

Ed Vreeke

Director

Ed Vreeke is Canadian national. He has experience related to essential generic medicines and medical supplies is in the following fields: procurement and supply systems organisation, management, monitoring and evaluation, general management and organisation of Central Medical Stores, strategic and policy issues, business plan development, transitioning from government to independent organisation, development, organisation and management of tender processes, conception of revolving medicine funds, performance based financing systems, costing analysis.

Laurine Lavergne

Technical Coordinator

Pharmacist

Mary Mzumara-Kadalie

Mary Mzumara-Kadalie

Administration and finance

Mary is a Zambian national living in South Africa. She is an accountant by training and has a postgraduate diploma in Development management and a master in public policy. She has significant management and accounting experience in the private sector as well as in the humanitarian and development sector (SOS Kinderdorf International, CARE and the ILO).

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