The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) launched a curriculum for addressing the risk of substandard and falsified (SF) medical products sold online. The curriculum is presented in a FIP handbook for educators.
The handbook explains that SF medical products threaten patient safety and pose challenges to treating infections, resulting in a lack of public trust in health systems. Educating healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, students, and the public is crucial to minimising the use of SF medical products and improving patient safety.
The federation already offers educational resources on SF medical products, such as an online course for pharmacy students, launched in 2021.
“In recent years, patients and caregivers have increasingly used websites and social media to obtain medical products. Self-diagnosis and self-prescription have increased the use of illegal online drug sellers where SF medical products are sold. Identifying SF medical products is difficult for patients and healthcare professionals. Similarly, identifying legal online pharmacies can be challenging for patients and healthcare professionals alike. Gaps in knowledge and skills in undergraduate students remain, as most courses may not cover the online sale of SF medical products,” said Dr John Hertig, executive committee member of FIP’s Hospital Pharmacy Section, who led the development of the handbook.
The new handbook focuses on online sources of these products. It provides teaching materials, resources and practical guidance to prepare pharmacy undergraduates for practice so that they can support public safety.
