QUAMED is a not-for-profit membership association. Our objective to increase access to quality medicines using pharmaceutical audits, training and advisory services. The global pharmaceutical market is characterized by the coexistence of multiple quality standards : where patients in rich, strictly regulated countries can generally rely on the efficiency, safety and intrinsic quality of the medicines available to them, a large majority of people in resource-limited countries are at risk of receiving or buying poor quality pharmaceuticals. WHY? Here some of the reasons: > LACK OF RESOURCES from regulatory authorities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) > GROWING COMPLEXITY AND GLOBALISATION of the pharmaceutical market the increasing pressure on prices to the detriment of a clear definition of the required quality standards > LIMITED AWARENESS of the problem among key stakeholders, including some of the largest donors > LACK OF PUBLIC AND TRANSPARENT INFORMATION about the quality of medicines > LACK OF POLITICAL will at national and international level. Although the problem posed by counterfeit medicines is the subject of a growing number of global initiatives, that of sub-standard drugs - the extent of which is very worrying in the LMICs - remains insufficiently taken into account. Sub-standard drugs, however, have at least as negative impact on vulnerable populations health as counterfeit drugs have. OUR STRATEGY THE DEVELOPPEMENT OF A NORTH/SOUTH NETWORK to facilitate the sharing of reliable information on the sources of medicines and ease the communication between key players in pharmaceutical procurement. STREAMLINE THE USE OF RESOURCES BY POOLING SKILLS as well as human and financial resources across the network. PROVIDE RECOGNISED EXPERTS in pharmaceuticals and quality assurance systems.