The National Drug Authority has conducted operation on herbalists who are selling unregistered drugs and illegally advertising using Bizindalo, the operations were conducted in Busega, Kalerwe and Wandegeya in Kampala and Nansana in Wakiso distric
Abiaz Rwamwiri, the NDA Head of Public Relations said that its illegal to promote drugs that have not been verified by NDA a thing that is contrary with section 33 of the NDA Policy and Authority Act which requires anyone that is going to promote drugs, their information to have been verified by NDA to protect the public from misleading drug promotion messages.
Section 33 (1)(c) of the National Drug Policy and Authority Act, Cap 206 prohibits the advertisement and publication of information that is calculated to promote the use of a drug for prevention or treatment of any disease or relating to enhancing human potency.
According to NDA the premises they visited in the crackdown were in a very unpleasant condition, some in slums, some of the attendants didn’t have required qualifications to dispense drugs
By evening, NDA had closed 16 herbal drug outlets and their operators were arrested, some of the impounded medicine include among others; Superman, Candida Drugs, Cough Drugs, Diabetes Drugs among others from Muwonya African Herbal Research Clinic in Busega market.
The megaphones, and some of the drugs have been impounded, these are exhibits which include the megaphones, CDs, Flash Disks, and the amplifiers that they have been using to put out information. All the suspects have been taken to respective police stations.
The Executive Director of Consumer Education Trust, Richard Henry Kimera also urged media houses to ask for approval by both NDA and UNBS before they take on any products for advertisement.
NDA in partnership with other government agencies including the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) banned adverts of herbal medicines on media platforms unless they have been approved by all the three.