By Milliam Murigi @millymur1
Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has kicked off a major crackdown to weed out all quack doctors and illegal health facilities countywide which do not meet the requirements set by the Ministry of Health.
Speaking in Nairobi during their first sensitisation roadshow, PPB Chief Executive Officer, Dr. F.M Siyoi said the board is planning to do joint inspections of health facilities with other health regulatory authorities to ensure that the public access quality medical products and those who will be found operating illegally and offering sub-standard products, will be prosecuted and their facilities closed down with immediate effect.
“I want to urge all Kenyans to report any suspected quack doctor or facilities operating illegally to minimize time used for this operations since Kenyans know such facilities and doctors very well,” he said.
He revealed that if one is not a trained pharmacist and not registered as a pharmacist, it is illegal for one to engage in the business of selling drugs since that is endangering the lives of Kenyans. It is also unlawful to open up a pharmacy in premises that are not registered by the board.
“Members of the public are advised to use health safety codes displayed in registered pharmacy outlets to verify the legality of the premises. The toll-free Sms code is 21031. All outlets with expired drugs have been directed to dispose them off safely,” PPB said in a Twitter post.
Currently in Nairobi County alone at least 7,900 health facilities are not registered or licensed and are therefore operating illegally. This means that most Nairobi residents, especially those in informal settlements, could be getting health services from ‘quacks’ unknowingly.
At the same time, Siyoi urged Kenyans to report suspected Adverse Drug Reactions (any unexpected or dangerous reaction to a drug) since this is a key element in building an improved pharmacovigilance system.
“Always ensure that you: Finish all your drugs, return expired or poor medicine to the chemist and do not use expired drugs. You should also report to the nearest health facility if you get Adverse Drug Reaction.”
The road show was organized to educate the public on issues of Drug Safety, Adverse Drug Reporting, the Health Safety Code and the dangers of self-medication.
