First serialized vaccine scan in Africa marks milestone in tackling falsified medical products
Scan using GS1 technology is a first step to improve patient safety and address US$30 billion counterfeit medicines industry in low- and middle-income countries.
UNICEF and partners have announced a milestone moment in efforts to tackle the global counterfeit medicines industry as Rwanda and Nigeria became the first countries in Africa to authenticate vaccines using GS1 barcoding technology.
The news was announced at the launch of the Traceability and Verification System (TRVST), a new collaboratively designed solution that allows countries to verify the authenticity of health products and track and trace them through their supply chain.
Quality-assured vaccines and risks
“Substandard and falsified products are a growing global issue, posing major health, social and economic risks. They endanger the lives of those that we are mandated to protect,” said Etleva Kadilli, Director of UNICEF Supply Division. “UNICEF is proud to be at the forefront of global efforts, along with partners, to ensure higher levels of verification controls, ensuring patient access to safe, effective and quality-assured vaccines and other medicines.”
The TRVST relies on a global repository, that stores health product information, such as Global Trade Item, serial and batch numbers, as well as production and expiry dates. This data is fed into TRVST by medical product manufacturers. The system allows users, such as health care workers, regulatory authorities and customs agents, to use a phone application to scan medical product barcodes and verify their authenticity in real time. Any verification failure or suspect activities will trigger an alert which will be sent to respective manufacturers and regulatory authorities.
“Our aim is to have end-to-end traceability for all vaccines and through the digitization of public health systems. The TRVST initiative will help countries strengthen supply planning and deliver safe and effective vaccines and other health products,” said Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes at Gavi.
TRVST rollout in Africa
In July 2022, the TRVST was launched in Nigeria and Rwanda with the first GS1 scans marking a milestone in patient safety against counterfeit and substandard medicines. COVID-19 vaccines were the first products used in the TRVST. The TRVST started with COVID-19 vaccine data to ensure patient safety and address the urgent risk of falsified or diverted vaccines.
"The quality of pharmaceutical products in the country are now guaranteed via implementation of track and trace across the nation, using GS1 standards and other detection systems,” said Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Director General at the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
Improving efficiency in sharing data
“The TRVST is an important addition to the national health supply chain and health information system investments to improve efficiency in sharing data across the chain, strengthen data quality, extend data visibility, and reduce costs of data capture and transformation,” said Dr. Emile Bienvenu, Director General of the Rwanda Food and Drug Administration. “It will be an instrumental tool to meet the strategic objectives of the Rwanda National Vision and Strategy for Pharmaceutical Traceability of the Ministry of Health.”
This initiative complements other global efforts led by partners to digitalize public health supply chain systems. It will help countries to strengthen supply planning and demand capacity with the objective of ensuring greater levels of access to health products and treatments.
