×
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
  • Standard Group Plc HQ Office,
  • The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road.
  • P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111
  • Email: [email protected]

Bogus pharmacists now to part with Sh1m in new law

By ALLY JAMAH

NAIROBI, KENYA: Quacks caught dishing out drugs in private and public pharmacies will be fined Sh1 million up from Sh30,000 if a proposed law is approved.

The draft amendments to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board Act will also see unlicensed and unregistered pharmacies attracting a fine of Sh500,000 up from the current Sh30,000. 

The proposed amendments will be debated by MPs when they resume their session, in changes that will transform the institution into a semi-autonomous body and change its name to the Pharmacy and Poisons Authority.

Individuals who are not registered pharmacists cannot dispense drugs without the supervision of a registered and qualified personnel. The new requirement in the Bill reads in part: “No person shall operate the business of a pharmacist or pharmaceutical technologist without the presence of a registered pharmacist or pharmaceutical technologist in the premises where such business is being carried out.

The person who contravenes the above faces a Sh200,000 fine up from the current Sh20,000

Pharmacists or pharmaceutical technologists caught operating on non-designated areas face higher fines of half a million up from Sh30,000.

The proposed changes come amid rising concerns over the high number of quacks operating with impunity across the country.

According to the amendments, a person who sells any counterfeit, illegally imported or unregistered pharmaceutical substances and medicinal devices will be fined Sh1 million or serve a maximum of ten years in prison or both.

COUNTERFEIT DRUGS

The country has been struggling to roll back the tide of counterfeit drugs, with officials of the current board lamenting that the current law is ineffective in addressing the menace. This includes the fact that the fines are too low, with many offenders comfortably getting away without serious sanctions. 

A person selling a poisonous substance without authorisation is liable to a fine of Sh500,000 or jail for not more than 2 years. The Act further proposes to have manufacturers of counterfeit drugs and devices to pay a fine of Sh10 million and/or three-five years of imprisonment.

Those who manufacture drugs or medical devices without a licence will be fined Sh10 million or face five years in prison or both. Should the proposed amendments be passed, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board will be transformed into the Pharmacy and Poisons Authority.

The new body will be transformed into a new parastatal headed by a Director-General as opposed to the current arrangement in which it is headed by the Registrar who is the Chief Pharmacist. The DG is to be selected competitively through interviews. 

Once every three months, the proposed authority is required to publish a complete list of registered medicinal substances in the market and warn against counterfeit ones. 

The proposed authority is charged with the mandate of advising the Government and government agencies in all matters relating to the safety, packaging and distribution of medicines and the regulation of the pharmaceutical profession and the practice of pharmacy in Kenya.

Related Topics


.

Trending Now

.

Popular this week