Friederike Segeberg new chairwoman of the GPHF
07.04.2015 12:32
Friederike Segeberg was elected as the new chairwoman of the non-profit association at the general meeting of the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF). She follows Frank Gotthardt, who will in future work alongside Dr. Walter Huber will serve as deputy chairman. The GPHF board is completed by treasurer Stefan D. Schröder.
The new chairwoman announced that she wanted to build on the successful work of her predecessor. The focus will continue to be on combating counterfeit medicines in developing countries through the use of the GPHF-Minilab[®]. For this purpose, the compact laboratory is to be continuously developed further. According to Segeberg, counterfeit medicines represent one of the key challenges for the health systems of many countries. Africa and Southeast Asia are particularly affected. “These countries must be helped to protect themselves against the dangers posed by counterfeit medicines. One way to do this is to use the GPHF Minilab[®],” said the chairwoman of the GPHF.
As part of his annual report, the outgoing chairman Frank Gotthardt was able to draw a positive assessment of the GPHF's project work. There are now almost 700 minilabs in use in 90 countries around the world. “The Minillab makes an important contribution to protecting people worldwide from counterfeit medicines,” says Gotthardt. As he reported, the GPHF-Minilab[®] was only recently able to discover a dangerous counterfeit malaria drug in Malawi and remove it from circulation.
Gotthardt's report on a project in Ghana was also positive. The GPHF has been supporting the training of pharmaceutical specialists there since last year. At its general meeting, the GPHF decided to provide four minilabs specifically for a project in Tanzania that is being carried out by the companies Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck together with the churches and the German Society for International Cooperation (GiZ). As part of a public-private partnership, training opportunities for pharmaceutical staff in the East African country are to be improved.
The minilab developed by the GPHF is unique in the world. With the mobile and tropical laboratory, the active ingredients of a drug can be reliably analyzed within a short time using simple methods. This means that counterfeit medicines can be detected regardless of the availability of central laboratory facilities, be it at hawkers, in ports or even in rural health wards. The GPHF project work and the use of the Minilab are made possible primarily by Merck. The company regularly supports the association and its projects through donations.