[Ip-health] New system developed for identifying counterfeit drugs

[Meredith Filak]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009966.html

mPedigree: Putting Safety into Consumers' Hands

June 8, 2009 1:34 PM
By Suzie Boss

Across much of the developing world, buying medicine amounts to a crapshoot=
.
Consumers in Africa and parts of Southeast Asia face at least a one-in-four
chance of paying good money for fake pharmaceuticals, according to World
Health Organization estimates. If you=92re sick and purchase sugar pills
instead of a lifesaving medication, the consequences can be deadly.

Western methods for ensuring drug safety require laboratories, technologies
or enforcement strategies =93that don=92t work in developing nations. We do=
n=92t
even have constant power sources,=94 says Ashifi Gogo, a native of Ghana wh=
o
is combining studies of engineering and innovation at Dartmouth=92s Thayer
School of Engineering. Gogo worked with Bright Simons, an Ashoka fellow als=
o
from Ghana, to devise an alternative solution, which they call mPedigree.
The program combines mobile phones, scratch-off drug labels and text
messaging into a simple, effective way for consumers in places like Accra t=
o
find out if the medicines they purchase are the real deal or counterfeit.

Here=92s how their method works: mPedigree provides pharmaceutical
manufacturers with specially coded labels, which are affixed to individuall=
y
packaged medicines. At the drugstore counter, the purchaser scratches off a
label to reveal a unique code, which he or she texts to a four-digit number=
.
An automated service looks up the code in a database. On the spot, the
consumer gets a reply message indicating whether the drug is genuine or
fake.

The idea puts drug authentication into the hands of consumers, =93who are t=
he
ones with the most to lose,=94 Gogo points out. By empowering end users, he
aims to ultimately create safer pharmaceutical distribution networks
throughout the developing world. The World Economic Forum sees the same
potential, recognizing mPedigree as a Technology Pioneer for 2009. The idea
has received support from Ghana=92s Food Drug Board as well as local teleco=
m
operators and drug manufacturers.

The mPedigree founders based their solution on a home-grown understanding o=
f
local context. =93We couldn=92t have done this sitting in an air-conditione=
d
office,=94 Gogo says. He knows from experience that mobile phones are
ubiquitous in the developing world. =93That=92s a strength we can build on,=
=94 he
adds. He also knows that African consumers use scratch-off codes and text
messaging because that=92s how they top off their cell phone minutes. Durin=
g
recent mPedigree trials in Accra, consumers had no trouble using the same
methods to authenticate drugs.

With trials now expanding to other African countries, mPedigree founders ar=
e
thinking strategically about how to scale, without pushing up costs for
consumers. One idea involves translating the system to a different market.
For-profit applications of the scratch-and-authenticate idea would help
makers of other consumer goods =97 such as DVDs or designer clothing =97 pr=
otect
their brands against counterfeiting. Profits from selling the system could
underwrite the costs of fighting the fake drug trade, creating a win-win
solution with technologies at hand.

Suzie Boss is a journalist from Portland, Ore., who writes about social
change and education.