NDA impounds drugs worth UGX 26m in greater Masaka

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Drugs worth over 26 million Shillings have been confiscated by the National Drugs Authority-NDA in an enforcement operation carried out in the districts of greater Masaka.

Samuel Kyomukama, the head of enforcement at NDA says the operation was conducted in Masaka, Rakai, Kalangala, and Sembabule districts targeting unlicensed human and veterinary drugs outlets that were earlier issued with closure notices over noncompliance with standards.

He says that the drugs that are in volumes of 66 boxes were confiscated from three pharmacies that were operating without supervising Pharmacists and one clinic which was accused of poor display and retailing of classified drugs.

He however adds that the authority has registered improvement in the levels of compliance to set out standards by the drug outlets and retailers, compared to last year when they confiscated drugs worth 114 million Shillings. At the time, they also identified 20 unlicensed pharmacies from the same subregion of greater Masaka.

Doctor Tom Makumbi, the NDA Senior Drugs Inspector says that they have now considered intensifying special operations specifically targeting dealers and hawkers of herbal medicines to ensure that they comply with the safety regulations or be forced out of the drug supply chain.

He says the operation has been prompted by the many informal hawkers of herbal medicines who are noncompliant with both the licensing and standard storage requirements, arguing that are threatening the lives of their unsuspecting clients.

Records at NDA show that since July 2021, a total of 148 case files were sanctioned for prosecution in courts of law against those found to be operating illegally.

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