The STARS project focuses on the informal drug market in urban Burkina Faso, where there is alarming evidence of substandard and counterfeit antibiotics. Nevertheless, these antibiotics remain a primary source of medicine for many households. Using ethnographic methods, the project team explores the social networks, trust relationships, and local knowledge systems that shape how medicines circulate in these markets. Simultaneously, epidemiological research examines informal vendors’ potential role as sentinel surveillance sites for antibiotic use patterns and antimicrobial resistance development.

Through interviews and surveys, the team engages this hard-to-reach population and develop a prototype surveillance system. Collaborating with the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS) and Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Health, the project aims to generate evidence-based, contextually appropriate and scalable policy recommendations for integrating informal vendors into pharmaceutical regulation in Burkina Faso.
 

Focus Areas:
Affordable medicines, antimicrobial resistance and stewardship, epidemiology and population health, health care research, health economics, health policy, logistics and supply chains, medical anthropology.