Drug sellers faults government over them banned medicines

A day after the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) announced the revocation of the registration, supply and sale of five types of medicines currently on sale in local market, stakeholders have challenged the move saying that, the national body is not serious with its logistics when handling the business. Some interviewed sellers of such drugs including pharmacists have expressed their concern in response to the government’s decision over the matter by wondering how medicines could have direct effects on users and yet it’s the government which carries quality checking of the imported consignments. Rose Thomas, a seller of human medicines at a retail shop at Mwenge on the outskirts of the city said that, the procedures of handling such medicines from the main suppliers to retailers are not so effective. According to her, improper quality checks and poor supervision by government officials is a primary cause of the mushrooming of the counterfeit drugs in the local market. 

“The prevalence of the counterfeit drugs is caused due to poor inspection and improper handling of the consignment of such medicines while being transported from outside the country for sale”, she said. However, she also noted that, among the five medicines declared to have been revoked from being sold or supplied in local market had not been in the market for the last three years. She mentioned the medicines like Amodiaquine, Cloxacilliia and Kanamycin. These are among the  five medicines prohibited from sale in the cou8ntry. Others are Phenylpropanolaminew and Chloramphenicol Sodium Succinate from India. Katoke Amos, a pharmacist at Nakiete Pharmacy Company based in Mwenge also raised a concern over government’s decision on the ban and noted that, the government has to be blamed for its failure to ascertain the quality of the medicines as they are responsible for all logistics involved on importation. He confirmed that, all the banned medicines were not in the market for a considerable time with the exception of the few such as the Sulphadoxine and Pyreimethamine (SP) whose quality he said is low according to the specifications used during manufacturing. Another medicine seller, Dany Felix said that, there is a need of having high techno local knowledge about the medicines in the country as the source of counterfeit medicines also involves manufacturers and the whole channel of supply. He noted that, the problem lies on the general observation of the laid down rules which he said officials concerned arte not static while carrying out their duties at a respectable points to avoid dubious trade.