Fake Drugs Roam Liberia’s Market

Says Acting Asst. Minister Pewu Dr. Moses Pewu, Acting Assistant Minister for Curative Services at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) have called on Liberians to be cautious in procuring medical drugs in the country because there are lot of fake drugs on the market. According to Dr. Pewu, most drugs being sold as antibiotic in the country have being tested and proven to be mere cassava powder enclosed in capsules or caked as tablets to have people that are desprite for a cure, fooled to subscribe to them(fake drugs) With many Liberians over the years have become accustom to the act of purchasing medicine from quack pharmacists (street drugs vendors) and pharmacies around town without any medical advise, Dr. Pewu said he could not determined how many liberian have died as a result of the usage fake drugs. He cautioned Liberians not to buy drugs based on their own prescriptions from any unrecommended pharmacy or street vendors because some of these medium have the tendency to put money above the well-being of the ill individual. The acting Asst Minister recalled that some time ago one pharmacy (name withheld) which dealt solely in antibiotic and diabetic drugs compromised medical ethics by selling the diabetic pills as antibiotic to some individuals. “I remember there was a time one pharmacy which sold antibiotic and diabetic drugs in town here began to sell the diabetic drugs to people as antibiotic when their antibotic supply ran out. This may have been for economic gain. But what happens if a non-diabetic person takes drugs meants for diabetic patients,” Dr. Pewu asked. He explained that the effect was that the amount of sugar in the non-diabetic person body is drastically reduced which usually results to instant death if that persons falls off. The Acting Assistant Minister for Curative Services made the remark when he was asked to confirm media reports of expire drugs at the nation’s prime referral hospital, JFK, during a press briefing held at the UNMIL headquaters in sinkor. Dr. Pewu respond to the question was that there have being a case of expire drugs at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Hospital earlier this year but there are measure being taken to ensure that such case does not recur. However the existance of street drug peddlers in Liberia have being popularized in the country since the late 1998 when medical facilities in the country was disadvantaged in providing pharmaceutical services to the country’s population. But those street drug peddlers are still predominant on the Liberian market eventhough there have been vital reforms in the health sectors which have improved the way health services are delivered to people in the country.