See article on our work in Attempto Magazine, University of Tübingen
Substandard and falsified medicines pose a serious threat to public health, especially in developing countries. In 2017, the World Health Organization published a comprehensive review on this problem. According to this review, one in ten medicines in developing countries is substandard or falsified. The expenditure for such poor-quality medicines amounts to 30 billion US $ per year, and the annual number of deaths resulting from substandard and falsified medicines is estimated to be 72,000 – 169,000 in childhood pneumonia, and 31,000 – 116,000 in malaria. For comparison: the Ebola epidemic in Africa in the years 2014/15 caused a total of 12,000 deaths.
In collaboration with the German Institute für Medical Mission (DIFAEM) in Tuebingen, with the University of Malawi and the University of Rwanda, and with church-based health services in Africa, the group of Prof. Heide carries out research on the quality of medicines in different African countries. One project in Malawi has been supported by the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and another one in Rwanda by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. Further studies have been conducted in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. New research and teaching projects are underway in Nigeria and Rwanda.
The German radio station „Deutschlandfunk Kultur“ broadcasted on April 25, 2023, a short feature on on our work ("Gefälschte Medikamente: Wie sich gefährliche Pillen erkennen lassen"; 6 minutes).
Below is a 15 minute film in English language on our work in Cameroon.