Nam medicines ‘are safe’

NAMIBIA has a ‘strict and rigorous’ system of ensuring that all medicine in the country meet international health standards and patients need not fear using products of poor quality.

The Namibia Regulatory Medicines Council (NRMC) has ‘meticulous quality control’, a reliable source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Namibian yesterday. The expert, close to the NRMC, reacted on a report in the Washington Post about studies which showed that some drugs approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for distribution to the world’s poor, were of inferior quality.The article was based on a research conducted by published scholars and chemists about medicine provided through donor organisations and government for the treatment of malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries.Some of these medicine were found to be ‘shoddy’ and in some instances even causing more damage to patients than they benefit them. The medicine tested were bought from pharmacy shelves in countries such as Angola, Kenya and Ghana. A small fraction of the medicine, approved by the WHO failed the basic quality test, the researches found.Because Namibia is also a recipient of donor drugs for the treatment of malaria and tuberculosis, The Namibian contacted the senior management of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, including Minister Richard Kamwi, but their phones went unanswered.Only an expert close to the NRMC was prepared to speak off the record, saying the regulatory authority does everything in its power to ensure that Namibians use only the best medicine money can buy. Not only are available medicines scrutinised, but companies have to tender to supply the product. If the supplier is unknown to the council, it sends inspectors to the facility to ensure that the manufacturing meets with international standards. This is done at the expense of the tenderer.Samples of the medicine are also tested in Namibian laboratories, whose staff has been trained by the world’s best.Testing medicine isn’t a once-off, the source said, but batches are continually tested to ensure that medicine is free of impurities.Not only must all medicine be registered in Namibia, but the council also requires that the medicine is registered in the country of origin and used there too, he said.The council last year put its foot down after the Ministry of Health and Social Servives ordered vaccines from Cuba that didn’t meet Namibian and WHO standards.The consignment, although paid for by Government, was sent back after the WHO objected against the drug.