PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Two illegal pharmaceutical depots closed in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Burkinabe National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (ARNP), has closed two illegal pharmaceutical depots in the capital, Ouagadougou, with more than 40 tons of medicines in stock, the ANRP announced.
According to Dr. Casimir Sawadogo, a pharmacist at the regulatory agency, said following the inspection visits which began on January 15, the ARNP has been able to identify companies which are not authorized to sell products.
Consequently, the mission sealed their warehouses with a large number of imported products, including gloves, syringes, sodium, glucose. The products were packed in six 20-foot containers.
Once the offence was established, ANRP immediately revoked the licences of the companies, pending the outcome of the judicial procedure.
In July 2018, Burkina Faso created the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Regulation to strengthen the regulatory framework for the pharmaceutical sector and to comply with the recommendations of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Agency's role is to guarantee patient's safety by ensuring that all medicines imported into Burkina Faso are of high qualify and safe for consumption.
The pharmaceutical sector is now coordinated by the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Regulation and the Directorate General for Access to Health Products (DGAP).
PANA reports that in the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES), for the period 2016-2020, authorities outlined three major areas expected from the national health development efforts -- "access to quality health services guaranteed for all; the process of accelerating the demographic transition to trigger the demographic dividend is effectively set in motion; and the nutritional status of the population, especially women and children, is improved".
However, at a recent national meeting of public-sector pharmacists, Dr. Brice Evance Zoungrana, Director General of Access to Health Products, pointed out that drug shortages are affecting public health facilities, alluding to the crisis that shook the Central Purchasing Office for Essential Generic Drugs and Medical Consumables (CAMEG) between 2016 and 2017.
"The crisis at CAMEG has not been without consequences. We have lost the confidence of suppliers and some have refused to deliver to the facility. But thanks to the efforts of the authorities, a solution has been found," he explained.
Commenting on the debts owed by health districts, hospitals and the Ministry of Health to CAMEG, the Minister of Health, Prof. Nicolas Méda, acknowledged that the institutions owed more than 21 billion CFA francs, or 36,582,000 US dollars.
He assured that efforts are ongoing to pay those debts.
The meeting was held under the theme: "the pharmacist of the public administration, actor in the transformation of the Ministry of Health".
-0- PANA NDT/JSG/IBA/MTA/VAO 29Jan2019
According to Dr. Casimir Sawadogo, a pharmacist at the regulatory agency, said following the inspection visits which began on January 15, the ARNP has been able to identify companies which are not authorized to sell products.
Consequently, the mission sealed their warehouses with a large number of imported products, including gloves, syringes, sodium, glucose. The products were packed in six 20-foot containers.
Once the offence was established, ANRP immediately revoked the licences of the companies, pending the outcome of the judicial procedure.
In July 2018, Burkina Faso created the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Regulation to strengthen the regulatory framework for the pharmaceutical sector and to comply with the recommendations of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Agency's role is to guarantee patient's safety by ensuring that all medicines imported into Burkina Faso are of high qualify and safe for consumption.
The pharmaceutical sector is now coordinated by the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Regulation and the Directorate General for Access to Health Products (DGAP).
PANA reports that in the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES), for the period 2016-2020, authorities outlined three major areas expected from the national health development efforts -- "access to quality health services guaranteed for all; the process of accelerating the demographic transition to trigger the demographic dividend is effectively set in motion; and the nutritional status of the population, especially women and children, is improved".
However, at a recent national meeting of public-sector pharmacists, Dr. Brice Evance Zoungrana, Director General of Access to Health Products, pointed out that drug shortages are affecting public health facilities, alluding to the crisis that shook the Central Purchasing Office for Essential Generic Drugs and Medical Consumables (CAMEG) between 2016 and 2017.
"The crisis at CAMEG has not been without consequences. We have lost the confidence of suppliers and some have refused to deliver to the facility. But thanks to the efforts of the authorities, a solution has been found," he explained.
Commenting on the debts owed by health districts, hospitals and the Ministry of Health to CAMEG, the Minister of Health, Prof. Nicolas Méda, acknowledged that the institutions owed more than 21 billion CFA francs, or 36,582,000 US dollars.
He assured that efforts are ongoing to pay those debts.
The meeting was held under the theme: "the pharmacist of the public administration, actor in the transformation of the Ministry of Health".
-0- PANA NDT/JSG/IBA/MTA/VAO 29Jan2019
