THE Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has written to Honeybee Pharmacy, directing them to immediately recall defective condoms and gloves which have been in circulation since September 2020.
This follows a humiliating appearance before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee last week, Wednesday, where Medical Store Limited managing director Chikuta Mbewe admitted that Honeybee-supplied substandard condoms and gloves were distributed in September 2020, without conducting any quality assurance tests.
Mbewe also admitted that the said condoms and gloves were not safe for human consumption given that they failed quality tests at Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS), further telling the committee that these items were still in circulation.
Medical Stores Limited has disclosed that it distributed condoms and gloves to the public that did not meet the required standards set by the Zambia Bureau of Standards in September, 2020.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee this afternoon, Medical Stories Limited Managing Director Chikuta Mbewe says the condoms and gloves which were procured from Honey Bee were not safe for use.
Mr. Mbewe also disclosed that the Ministry of Health authorized the distribution of health kits despite knowing that the kits did not meet the required standards.
And And the Zambia Bureau of Standards Executive Director Manuel Mutale revealed that the condoms and gloves that were tested by the Bureau were defective.
The Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has arrested eleven people in Kapiri Mposhi District for operating drug stores without certification of registration.
The suspects were arrested during a surveillance routine inspection aimed at curbing the sale of medicines and allied substances in unregistered outlets.
ZAMRA Senior Public Relations Officer, Christabel Iliamupu has confirmed the development to ZANIS in Kapiri Mposhi today.
Mrs. Iliamupu said the operation was undertaken over the weekend by ZAMRA inspectors in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers around Kapiri Mposhi Town Center and in selected compounds.
Mrs. Iliamupu identified the suspects as Simon Phiri, 77, Elias Miselo, 65, Lazarous Daka, 30, Kayombo Chisale, 30 and Jabes Banda and Jones Mumba both aged 22.
Three people of Chadiza district in Eastern Province have been convicted and fined K3, 000 for operating an illegal pharmacy.
Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) Senior Public Relations Officer Christabel Iliamupu said in a press statement issued to ZANIS today, that the trio were convicted and fined for operating a pharmacy without a Certificate of Registration contrary to section 14(1) of the Medicines and Allied Substances Act No. 3 of 2013.
Mrs Iliamupu named the trio as Alice Lungu, aged 25, Neverson Njobvu, aged 27 and Joseph Kandongwa, aged 37.
She said the trio appeared before Magistrate Fred Musaka at Chadiza Magistrate court following their arrest on December 5th , 2020.