By Septimus Senessie in Kono
In less than a week operation the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone swooped on and impounded counterfeit, substandard and expired drugs worth over Le 15 million in Kono district. The regional drugs regulator in charge of Kono district, Francis Bangura, said Sudrex, Ketrax, Stopache, Albendazole and other assorted types of syringes were among the confiscated items. He told Politico that the raid on drugs, arrested from drug peddlers and some pharmaceutical outlets in Koidu town, was part of an exercise to bring “sanity” into the business and protect the lives of citizens. Bangura described counterfeit, substandard and expired drugs as “a poison which has no therapeutic effects on the body when consumed by sick patients, but rather worsens the sickness in them.” He pointed out that the move was not meant to put people out of business but to save the lives of the many unsuspecting uneducated Sierra Leoneans and to enforce the regulations in drugs dealings. He added that: “75% of sick patients who die in the suburban parts of the country every year are killed by drug peddlers who give wrong prescriptions to them”. The drug regulator, however, said their mandates covered all pharmaceutical outlets in the district, and would therefore continue to go on the offensive and minimise drug peddling. He said a major challenge was to adequately man the over 14 entry points along the porous border areas adding that mobility constraints, man-power and the interference of stakeholders in the district into their activities were some of the major impediments to their operations. In the strongest of terms, he threatened to file a lawsuit against anyone boycotting the rules and regulations guiding their operations in the field. Chairman of Pharmacy Board in Kono, Emmanuel Thollie, also a pharmacist managing the Gbongolenkeh drugs store at Yardu Road in Koidu, warned his colleagues against dealing in substandard, counterfeit and expired drugs which had no medical importance. He threatened to permanently close down such defaulting businesses and pursue the matter in court. © Politico 03/10/13
