• Board on Monday kicked off crackdown on herbal clinics and illegal pharmacies.
• So far 76 premises have been inspected and 29 people arrested and charged.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Popular Makini Herbal Clinic is among 30 alternative medicine facilities closed this week alone by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.
Other famous clinics closed include Murugu, Kamirithu and Olive herbal clinics.
East and West Medical Centre, a Chinese herbal clinic located along Ngong Road, Nairobi, was also shut down.
Inspectors from the board on Monday kicked off a crackdown on herbal clinics and illegal pharmacies in Nairobi.
So far, 76 premises have been inspected and 29 people arrested and charged.
The board says it wants to ensure Kenyans access safe and efficacious medicines.
The crackdown targeted herbal clinics and pharmacies suspected to have flouted regulations.
PPB officer Dominic Kariuki said East and West Medical Centre had a large consignment of contraceptive pills and assorted medicines labelled in Chinese were seized.
Treatment records for patients were recovered.
The owner of the business, a Chinese national, was arrested, taken to court and released on a cash bail of Sh100,000.
“We found a large consignment of unregistered herbal medicines at Murugu herbal clinic. They were seized and the seven people found handling the drugs were arrested and taken to court,” Kariuki said.
The accused were released on cash bail of Sh200,000 each.
At Olive herbal clinic, a large quantity of unknown powders in buckets was seized and the owner arrested and taken to court.
The accused was released on a cash bail of Sh100,000.
“A visit to Kamirithu herbal clinic in Ngara, Nairobi, led our officers to discover their manufacturing site in a rundown iron sheet godown at Kahawa Wendani,” he said.
“Huge consignments of raw materials, packaging materials and manufacturing tools were seized. Two people were arrested, taken to court and released on cash bail of Sh100,000 each.”
The seized herbal products will be taken for analysis to check for adulteration with conventional medicines and contamination.
Kariuki has advised Kenyans to seek treatment from established healthcare facilities which stock registered products whose quality, safety and efficacy can be guaranteed.
“Members of the public are advised to use health safety codes displayed in registered pharmacy outlets to verify legality of the premises. Send SMS to 21031 and it is free of charge,” he said.