Written By Vanessa Kariuki ||
63 individuals have been arrested as a result of illicit pharmaceutical practices in the Coast, Nairobi, and Central regions following a joint targeted examination by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the Kenya Police Service.
Between December 18 and December 23, 2022, a joint investigative and follow-up regulatory inspection activity was conducted, during which at least 143 boxes of various Health Products and Technologies were confiscated.
The examination, according to Mr. Julius Kaluai, Head of Inspectorate and Enforcement at the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, was aimed at pharmaceutical wholesalers and concentrated on looking into, prosecuting, and reporting illicit pharmaceutical shops.
69 targeted inspections, according to Mr. Kaluai, were carried out as part of the program, and he advised licensed practitioners against entrusting their business to unqualified personnel.
“The affected practitioners shall further be subjected before the Board’s disciplinary committee, in addition to court prosecution,” he stated.
Members of the public are advised to avoid buying medicines from chemists bearing no names on display or having no signages. “This is a key indicator of illegal pharmaceutical premises,” Kaluai said.
He added, “We are advising members is of the public to verify the registration details of pharmacy practitioners at the community pharmacies, hospital pharmacies as well as any other drug dispensing facilities at practice.pharmacyboardkenya.org/LicenseStatus.”
Suspected practitioners can also be reported via info@pharmacyboardkenya.org
