According to the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, drug peddling (an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs) poses a very big challenge in the health sector. In the first quarter of 2019, some 26 joint drug peddler raids were conducted by the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone across the country, during which, 35 drug peddlers were arrested charged to Court and fined. Medicine safety began in Sierra Leone in the year 2005, and in December 2007, Sierra Leone was granted associate membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) International safety monitoring program, and in September 2008, full membership was granted to Sierra Leone. The country is now the 87th member of the WHO International safety monitoring program.
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Registrar, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, James Komeh, said the current regulations to discipline peddlers are weak and inadequate to meet current regulatory requirements. He added that the review of the Pharmacy and Drug Act has been conducted and expects the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to forward it to Parliament. Deputy Registrar, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Sesay, said, the Pharmacy Board was created by an Act of Parliament in 2001 as a national regulatory agency for the profession of pharmacy, control the supply, manufacture, storage, and the distribution and transportation of drugs, including nutritional agent and cosmetics. Head of quality assurance, Alpha Tejan Kella, said only 75% of the drugs are tested because the Pharmacy Board does not have the equipment needed to test drugs. “An estimated two-thirds of global antibiotics sales occur without any prescription,” Kella said. The Pharmacy Board encourages people to report the following:
- Suspected reactions to medicines
- Lack of effect/therapeutic failure
- Reactions as a result of interaction
- Dependence and abuse
- Medication errors
- Product quality defect
The Pharmacy Board is challenged. Some of these challenges include: inadequate budgetary allocation from government, lack of equipment, delays in soliciting maintenance service for equipment, insufficient personnel, staff attrition, etc.
SKS/7/8/19
By Sulaiman Karim Sesay
Wednesday August 07, 2019.
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