Minister directs Pharmacy board to probe drug quality, pricing disparities
Dr Henry Mwebesa (right), the head of Pharmacy Board takes oath at Health ministry headquarters in Kampala as His Worship Ayebare Tumwebaze supervises on September 11, 2024. Photo/Tonny Abet
What you need to know:
- The Pharmacy Board is a statutory body mandated to oversee the regulation and practice of Pharmacy in Uganda, ensure compliance with pharmaceutical laws, and address issues related to the quality and safety of medicines.
The State Minister for Health, Ms Anifa Kawooya has asked the new Pharmacy Board to regulate the mushrooming pharmacies and probe drug quality and disparities in pricing.
“Saving a life is not only by the doctors, not only in theatres but [also] in the pharmacies, they can save you or take your life. They can give you the wrong drug. All the drugs that are in our pharmacies must be regulated to know that what we are consuming is the right medicine,” she said.
“Some [of the drugs] have expired a long time ago. That is why you hear that one is 2000 [shillings[], the other is 5000 [shillings] yet the drug is for treating the same disease. It's like you are in the China mall, not this one in Uganda; you want cheap [medicine], you good or bad; we should not reach that stage. We should ensure you save a life. Every human being has got a right to live and a right to ensure s/he gets the right medicine and is taken care of,” she added.
The State minister said this on September 11 while inaugurating the nine-member Pharmacy Board at the Health Ministry headquarters in Kampala. The Pharmacy Board is a statutory body mandated to oversee the regulation and practice of Pharmacy in Uganda, ensure compliance with pharmaceutical laws, and address issues related to the quality and safety of medicines.
This 5th Pharmacy Board is going to be headed by Dr Henry Mwebesa, who is also the Director General for Health Services at the Ministry. In his remarks, Dr Mwebesa said they will increase efforts to ensure standards in pharmacies and professionalism among pharmacists. He also unveiled a new gazette of the pharmacists which indicates there are 1,061 gazetted by the Health Ministry through the Pharmacy Board.
“We are also tasked with protecting the population about the professional conduct of our pharmacists in this country. We shall do that with integrity and professionalism, first by advising them, counselling them, and also by supporting them but we shall also play the judicial function of sentencing where there is misconduct,” he said.
