PPB steps up efforts to fight illegal pharmaceutical trade

ANNE MWALE AND MEGG NJOKI-KNA 

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), in collaboration with the National Police Service, has launched an operation to eliminate the unauthorized distribution, wholesale, and transportation of pharmaceuticals in a renewed effort to strengthen pharmaceutical regulation across Kenya. 

The Board has raised concerns over the proliferation of unlicensed courier services, motorbike operators, and public vehicles transporting pharmaceuticals without proper authorization. 

Julius Kaluai, the Head of Good Distribution Practices at PPB, noted that the Board is working with the National Police Service (NPS) to enforce regulatory compliance, emphasizing that un licensed wholesalers, distributors, and transporters must meet national standards or face disciplinary action. 

“Our decision to collaborate with police commanders from all 47 counties follows a recent nationwide audit of health facilities aimed at identifying and addressing mal practices within the pharmaceutical sec tor,” he stated. 

Speaking in Nakuru, Kaluai added that data gathered during the surveillance would help identify patterns in illegal pharmaceutical activities, enabling intelligence-based enforcement to more effectively target these issues. 

He also highlighted the need for closer collaboration between PPB and other government agencies at border points to prevent the entry of unregistered pharmaceuticals, further strengthening safeguards for public health. 

Additionally, Kaluai issued a notice to retail outlets operating unauthorized online pharmacies, urging them to register their premises according to the ser vices they provide. He warned that all non-compliant entities would face strict enforcement measures to protect the integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain. 

He indicated that the Board has proposed a set of rules and regulations that will govern the online pharmacy service. 

Kaluai said the previous rules do not capture the health services offered online and that they want to raise the standards of their rules by harmonizing with the international standards. 

“With the advancement in technology, we saw it necessary to come-up with new sets of rules and regulations that will govern the sector,” said the official. 

Kaluai pointed out that online pharmacies are growing so fast, and a good number of the population consume online services. 

He said that consultation, selling of medicines and drugs, prescription, counselling and therapeutic management are among the services offered online by professionals. 

Kaluai explained that there are medicines which are over the counter and others are prescription-only-medicines. Prescription only medicines have strict laws that guard their use so that they are not misused. 

He added that if the advertisements are not keenly crafted, it can lead to misuse of the drugs by the public. The Board warned pharmaceutical distributors against selling drugs to unlicensed pharmacies. 

The board directed the distributors to strictly adhere to good distribution practices to ensure the safety of Kenyans after an audit revealed significant malpractice within the supply chain. According to Mr Kaluai, several whole sale outlets have been identified as sources of distribution to unlicensed retailers. 

“Some wholesalers have registered their outlets but change their locations without informing the board, making inspection dif f icult,” he said, adding that this lack of communication contributes to a higher risk of illegal products reaching the public. 

Mr Kaluai further explained that the vehicles used for trans porting medicines, often matatus and lorries, are mostly unlicensed, failing to meet established transportation guide lines. 

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board Lower Eastern Regional Head Dr. Onesmus Kilonzo also high lighted that many personnel handling medications are not registered pharma cists. 

In these cases, qualified pharma cists may pick the medicines but subsequently leave them in the hands of unqualified individuals, raising serious concerns about the safety of the drugs being dis tributed, he said. 

“We have illegal wholesalers, which is a very serious area now under focus. There are retailers licensed to operate but are also engaging in illegal whole sale practices,” Dr Kilonzo noted. 

He emphasized the importance of having qualified personnel in pharmacy departments within hospital settings.