Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus

OVERVIEW

USAID’s Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM) supports the Government of Nepal to strengthen regulatory and quality assurance systems in the public and private sectors.  PQM provides equitable access to and appropriate use of safe, effective, and affordable essential medicines and pharmaceutical services.

HIGHLIGHT

USAID’s PQM provides technical support to the Department of Drug Administration (DDA), the National Medical Laboratory, and their sub-national structures to build in-country capacity on medicine regulation and quality assurance systems in both the public and private sectors.

USAID Strengthens Nepal’s Health System: 

USAID is sustainably improving DDA’s quality assurance and control systems by enhancing governance and financing, including private sector participation and investments.  PQM supports the development of a well-trained workforce and well-equipped medical laboratories in both public and private sectors and promotes availability of accurate and timely information for evidence-based decision-making.  

USAID Leverages the Private Sector to Increase Quality-Assured Medicines: 

USAID partners with the private sector to increase the number of local manufacturers that are nationally certified for good manufacturing practices, increase availability of WHO-prequalified local pharmaceutical products, and improve private drug quality testing laboratories to comply with Good Laboratory Practice standards.  

USAID Partners with the Government of Nepal to Improve its Health Security: 

USAID is reducing the availability of substandard, falsified, and unapproved medicines.  This assistance includes improving the capacity of national entities to perform surveillance and testing to detect unregulated medicines.  USAID collaborates with local municipalities to assess existing medicine procurement processes, and with the National Insurance Board to develop procurement guidelines to ensure the quality of medicines dispensed from board-listed health facilities.