Pharmacy Board Destroys Le90M Fake Drugs, Holds Stakeholders Meeting in Sierra Leone
Awareness Times
Nov 5, 2008
Fake, counterfeit and substandard drugs worth over Le90m (ninety million Leones) was last Friday destroyed by the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone (PBSL) at the northern headquarter city of Makeni in the Bombali District.
The drugs were set on fire in full view of the public at the Wusum Hills in Makeni.
The fake drugs according to Pharmacy Board officials were the those confiscated during an all-round inspecting raid by the PBSL earlier this year, in the whole of the Northern Province.
Deputizing the chairman of the Pharmacy Board, Mr. N.A. Pratt who is also a member of the Board, said at the community sensitization forum at the Makeni Government Hospital, that it was good that the people whose lives are endangered by such fake drugs which proliferate the market, are present to witness the ceremony as it would eventually serve as a deterrent to future use of these drugs.
He also said that the Board cherishes the presence of other stakeholders in the Pharmaceutical Industry and remarked that "this gives credence to the fact that everybody is ready to come onboard to combat the dangers posed by fake and counterfeit medicines which puts the health of our citizenry in absolute danger".
The destruction, he said, is "in consonance with the mission of the PBSL to ensure that there are safe, efficacious potent medicines at the disposal of the people of this country".
Pharmacist Pratt advised that people buy drugs only from recognized outlets "having in mind the fact that health is wealth". He however added that the PBSL has and will never relent in the fight to protect the health of the public and therefore called on the cooperation of all stakeholders to join in the combat against the life-line implications of fake and counterfeit medicines.
Acting Registrar of the Pharmacy Board Mr. Wiltshire C.N. Johnson told the people of Makeni that "a lot has happened in trying to straighten the many problems surrounding the Pharmaceutical Industry in the country".
The Pharmacy Board, he said, is the only regulatory body mandated to sort out the problems in the industry in relation to the health and well-being of the people of the country.
The problem of counterfeit drugs, the Registrar said, is not unique to Sierra Leone as according to him, "40% of all drugs sold in Africa are counterfeit or substandard".
The Government, he impressed, "has the will-power more than ever before to cleanse the drugs market in the country.
The Pharmacy Board, he said, carries the official mandate not only to fight problems of fake and counterfeit drugs but to record the needed success and the Government aims at getting all stakeholders involved.
WCN Johnson acknowledged that there is a formidable reduction in the influx of fake drugs in the market; saying that the problem is still formidable and this is due to the fact that there is gross smuggling of fake drugs from the porous border areas in the Northern Province of the country.
The Registrar reiterated the fact that the Board will never renegade on its stance to suspend indefinitely anybody or institution caught with fake and counterfeit drugs, as he stated, "counterfeits and fake drugs are the most deadly weapon against humanity".
President of the Sierra Leone Pharmacy Business Association Mr. Ethelbert Tejan remarked that it his desire for all in the Pharmacy Industry to remain in business but that all such businesses must be according to the tenets of the drugs regulatory agency in the country-the PBSL.
The President advocated that new laws and polices should be created to suit the problems affecting the industry in the country; adding that reducing import duty on essential drugs to the barest minimum will definitely contribute in stopping the smuggling of fake drugs.
Mr. Tejan called on all and sundry to join forces with the Government curb the hazards posed by fake drugs.
After listening to all the speakers at the programme, Mayor of the Makeni Municipality, His Worship Moses Sesay acknowledged that he sees the problems of fake drugs as a sensitive one that involves the Pharmacy Board, Government authorities marketers of pharmaceutical products.
As such he said, all must work to ensure that the interest of the public comes first in all they do.
The Mayor pledged his support with the PBSL, and called on all to do the same as "anyone one of us could be victims of counterfeit drugs".
In a related development, an exclusive conference was held between the Pharmacy Board and the Sierra Leone Pharmacy Business Association (SLPBA); the Registrar of the PBSL made a presentation on the way-forward in the coming year, saying that "all professionals are expected to be fully licensed by January 2009, and that all must work to improve their professional capacities".
He advised that "pharmacy professionals are expected to carry on their work with the expected character of integrity, honesty and professionalism".
He said that personal appearance must be a premium among professional Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technicians".
WCN Johnson further said that it is required that all pharmaceutical premises must be registered alongside the classes of drugs that are licensed to market.
Application for the licensing of new pharmaceutical outlets must be three hundred yards apart to ensure that people are adequately served.
No new store, he said, will be registered in Freetown and that the Board will no longer encourage the sale of medicines in kiosks. Patent stores, he maintained, will not be licensed if they do not have evidence of being in business in order to discourage the sales of medicines that such stores are not registered for.
On disciplinary measures; the PBSL boss said that from next year henceforth, failure of any defaulter to report for duty or continuous absenteeism in their places of work will not in any w ay be encouraged.
That the sales of Classes A and B drugs by non-professionals will result in the immediate withdrawal of business licenses and that no Class A or B drug will be sold in drugs Stores.
The importation of unregistered drugs, he said, will lead to prosecution in Court and that failure to keep records of transaction will also lead to the withdrawal of business licenses by the Board. "Most significantly" he remarked, "anybody that prevents an inspection officer from the Pharmacy Board from carrying out his duties, will receive severe penalty from the law".
