Step up war against fake medicines, Gachagua orders Poisons Board

The Star Kenya

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has directed the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to crack the whip on chemists selling counterfeit drugs saying the commodities are a health risk to Kenyans. https://bit.ly/3QXkUk7

Transcript

00:00 and other goods. During the

00:04 implementation of pharmaceuticals and other goods, we face grave challenges due to disruption

00:10 of supply chains. With local manufacturing, we are closing such gaps and advancing towards

00:17 affordable health care. Furthermore, this is a major boost to the realization of universal

00:24 health care as per the Kenya Kwanzaa Plan. This step of Questacare Limited investing

00:32 in Kenya happens at a time the pharmaceutical industry is facing stiff competition from

00:38 counterfeit drugs. A joint research by the Kenya Medical Association, Kenya Association

00:45 of Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya established that up to 30%

00:51 of medicines and drugs in the country are counterfeit. It is a syndicate estimated at

00:57 a close to 15 billion Kenya shillings. On a global scale, Africa accounts for up to

01:04 42% of fake drugs. The United Nations warns that over 500,000 deaths in Africa are linked

01:11 to substandard products. Such drugs offer false hope of recovery to patients. In some

01:18 cases, it may worsen the situation given that the veracity and efficacy of the components

01:24 are unverified. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, counterfeits, fake and falsified drugs are

01:32 a threat to our people. They are a threat to life. They are a threat to livelihoods.

01:38 Medical drugs are not meant to kill. Drugs are to improve the quality of life. That is

01:45 why we are encouraging local production to improve availability and affordability of

01:50 quality supplies. This is one of the ways of edging out bad people dealing with counterfeits.

01:58 While this is a long-term strategy, it is not enough. Our administration is implementing

02:04 the universal health coverage. We are promoting preventive health care to the grassroots at

02:10 the bottom of the pyramid. Our aim is to reduce the cost of treatment by half and ultimately

02:17 set our people free from disease as was defined upon our independence in 1963.

02:26 The Pharmacy and Poisons Board must intensify the crackdown on manufacturing and trafficking

02:31 of counterfeit pharmaceuticals across the country. We have allocated resources to facilitate

02:37 the regulatory body in delivering on this assignment. Our security agencies are at your

02:43 disposal. A multi-agency approach is key in complementing your efforts in physical and

02:49 online surveillance. Drugs must not kill our people alongside diseases. Already, the disease

02:56 burden is consuming a lot of our resources, impairing development. Further, the surveillance

03:02 is not an event. It should not happen today because we have raised concerns. It must be

03:09 a continuous exercise, not only for the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, it is the responsibility

03:15 of everybody. That is why we also need to raise public awareness on how to check the

03:21 genuineness of drugs via smartphones.

03:24 While crackdowns are crucial in nabbing dealers of such fake drugs, we ask the security and

03:30 other involved agencies to put the health of the country first by ensuring that those

03:34 arrested are severely punished. Officers aiding the Syndicate are not part of us. They belong

03:40 to jail.

03:41 [End of Audio]

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