Illegal chemists choke Mlolongo and Kangundo road estates

The government has raised concern over the mushrooming illegal chemists within Mlolongo and along Kangudo Road.

Of concern is that some clinics are running illegal pharmacies run by unqualified pharmaceutical personnel.

The regulator, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, has been conducting a series of crackdowns in the country to ensure the safety, quality and efficacy of medical products and health technologies.

The latest raids have been conducted in the Lower Eastern and Nairobi and target illegal chemists, medicine hawkers, clinics, herbal medicine stores and cosmetic shops stocking medicament containing preparations disguised as cosmetics.

“A total of 70 persons have been placed under arrest and registered for prosecution in various courts within Lower Eastern and Nairobi regions,” head of enforcement and surveillance Julius Kaluai said.

The operation that commenced last week on Monday has seen at least 113 cartons of assorted products found in the illegal premises confiscated.

The personnel found operating them were arrested and charged in court.

“The seized medicines will be analysed and disposed of as guided through the issued court orders and in accordance with the PPB guidelines and standard operating procedures on disposal of pharmaceutical waste,” Kaluai said.

Kenya is among countries that have been battling the menace of illegal trade of pharmaceutical products, with the board putting measures in place to ensure the safety of consumers is protected at all costs.

The board has stepped up the fight against substandard, falsely labelled and falsified drugs in a bid to protect Kenyans from the dangers posed by the fake products in the market.

So far, the board has an elaborate drug registration system that ensures that only safe, quality and efficacious products are registered.

Currently, the agency randomly collects samples from all over the country and effective analysis are done at the National Quality Control Laboratory to test for quality, safety and efficacy.

A system of reporting suspected poor quality medicines and suspected adverse drug reactions has also been established and this helps the board monitor the medicines in the country.

According to Kaluai, the ongoing joint crackdown with the Kenya Police Service aims to audit controlled medicines and prescription medicine documentation in line with the Pharmacy regulations.

“The team is also out to execute warrants of arrest relating to Pharma crimes. These warrants were issued by various courts under the specified jurisdiction following absconding of court obligations by the suspects who were charged with the various pharmacy related offences.”

The team was also enforcing previously issued closure notices. Such closures were meted out during joint crackdowns and routine pharmaceutical regulatory inspections.

The centres of trade for these illicit drugs are unregulated chemists. Poverty, which drives consumers to purchase the cheapest goods and services on offer is said to be a major contributing factor for this trade since counterfeit drugs are relatively cheap.

The World Health organization requires governments to establish strong national medicines regulatory authorities with capacity to exert effective market control as well as proper monitoring and surveillance.

According to WHO, one in 10 medical products is substandard or falsified and likely responsible for thousands of deaths globally.

Substandard medicines are a threat to growth of the manufacturing sector while their negative impacts to human health are profound.