Patients are put at risk, healthcare systems become more vulnerable, and criminal networks profit from an illegal trade estimated to be worth more than $200 billion globally. The World Health Organization estimates that one in ten medical products in low- and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified, contributing to treatment failure and devastating consequences for patient safety and public health.
Associate Professor Oksana Pyzik (UCL School of Pharmacy), Associate Professor Lita Chew Sui Tjien (Group Chief Pharmacist at SingHealth) and Dr Vivianne Shih (Chair, SingHealth Duke-NUS Centre Global Health Institute (SDGHI) for Global Pharmacy) are leading Pharmacy Connect—a growing cross-border collaboration focused on strengthening medicines safety, digital health preparedness and future-ready pharmacy education in response to these evolving global health threats. Supported by the UCL Global Engagement Fund, Pharmacy Connect brings together pharmacists, regulators, educators and healthcare industry leaders across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the wider Western Pacific region to explore some of the most pressing challenges facing medicines safety and how to Fight the Fakes.
Building on earlier regional engagement in Singapore, Pharmacy Connect is now moving towards the co-development of a regional pharmacy patient safety roadmap and a series of practical online micro-modules on substandard and falsified medical products. The modules are intended to support pharmacists, regulators, educators, and healthcare industry leaders with shared learning across different professional and health-system contexts.
The next phase will involve regional partners and subject experts in shaping the modules, with further stakeholder input expected through a pre-congress workshop at the Singapore Pharmacy Congress in February 2027. The modules will then be piloted, evaluated, and refined before being introduced across the region in phases.