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| National |
| Man found with 27 types of drugs |
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by
Edwin Nyirongo, 29 November 2005
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06:18:34
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Police in Karonga have arrested a man after he was found with illegal custody of 27 different types of drugs and a stethoscope.
But both the Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board and the Central Medical Stores have blamed the problem of drugs being found anyhow on some pharmacists who throw ethics to the wind for money.
Joseph Chipasuka, 42, from Malemia 2 Village, Traditional Authority Kyungu in Karonga, was picked after some villagers tipped the police.
Some of the medicines he was found with are Clotrimazole, Aminophylline tablets, Penicillin, Doxycycline, Methyldopa, Streptomycin (for TB treatment) and X-ray developer.
Karonga Police Public Relations Officer Enock Livason confirmed the arrest, saying Chipasuka is in custody awaiting trial.
“During interrogations, he claimed that he found the medicines near Karonga District Hospital and we are trying to find out if the medicines came from there,” said Livason.
But Karonga District Hospital Pharmacy Technician Sekani Ziba denied that the drugs were stolen from the hospital.
Ziba said after the accused was arrested, he (Ziba) went to look at the drugs and discovered that they were not the type they are keeping at the hospital.
Pharmacy Medicines and Poisons Board Director Wyn Chalira expressed concern that some drugs that need professional direction on their use are found with lay people which could endanger the lives of Malawians.
Chalira disclosed that there are sets of guidelines that are followed for somebody to be allowed to sell drugs. He said one requirement is that the dispenser should be a trained pharmacist.
He warned that drugs are dangerous to life if used wrongly.
“When one prescribes drugs to a patient, he or she considers the amount of dose, age and even the condition of the patient, that is, if she is pregnant or not. These conditions are not followed by these dealers,” he said.
He pointed out that sometimes the drugs are expired and in the process people may either not get healed or be harmed.
Chalira claimed there are “some big people” who deal in these drugs and that the small traders are only used to sell them.
“For medicines to move put of their stores, it is not easy unless some big people are involved. There is need to investigate,” he said.
He also blamed the country’s “porous borders”, saying some neighbouring countries do not have strict rules on medicines.
“But one interesting thing is that some people have been arrested before but this has not led to finding the real people that steal the drugs from stores,” he said.
Central Medical Stores Acting Director Albert Khuwi said drugs are stolen at many stages, from medical stores, central hospitals and district hospitals to health centres.
“Sometimes even some doctors take government medicines and use them in private clinics. This is very difficult to control unless this system of owning a private hospital in addition to rendering services to government hospitals is revisited,” he said.
Khuwi said people who handle medicines are ideally well trained and should follow ethics but noted that “ethics and behaviour are different things.”
Khuwi also parried away suggestion that low pay could be the cause of drugs theft in hospitals, saying when one starts work, he or she is told how much money is expected at the end of the month.
As a solution to the problem, he disclosed that government intends to hire a consultant who would look at the problems of drugs pilferage and how to solve it.
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