NAIROBI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of health and partners on Tuesday announced a raft of measures aimed at containing proliferation of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in the market.
Director of Medical Services in the ministry of health, Jackson Kioko said that acquisition of new technology coupled with stringent regulations and public awareness will be prioritized in order to revitalize war against counterfeit medicine and diagnostic equipment.
"The government has set up strong mechanism in place to ensure that medical products manufactured locally or imported abroad meets acceptable standards of quality, safety and efficacy," Kioko said in Nairobi.
He spoke at the first Kenya pharmaceutical regulatory compliance conference attended by policymakers, industry executives and consumer rights advocates.
Kenya has domesticated World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on promoting access to quality medicine as a means to strengthen response to infectious and lifestyle diseases.
Kioko said that manufacturers and retail outlets are required to abide by a code of conduct in order to minimize the risk of counterfeit drugs circulating in the market.
"We have stepped up the fight against substandard medicine through an elaborate inspection and registration regime. The government has also invested in modern laboratories to ensure that only efficacious drugs are approved," said Kioko.
The East African nation is among African countries grappling with a huge proliferation of counterfeit drugs in the market due to regulatory loopholes, weak monitoring and ignorance among consumers.
Kioko noted that unscrupulous traders have taken advantage of lax policing at ports of entry to smuggle counterfeit medicine that have undermined the fight against killer diseases.
"There is no doubt counterfeit drugs have become an immense public health challenge in the country. Globalization and liberalization of trade in pharmaceuticals has also worsened the menace of fake drugs in the market," said Kioko.
He added that the government has scaled up investments in digital tools to strengthen tracking and reporting of counterfeit drugs on real time basis. Enditem
