Stop deadly ‘chemists’ - Daily Nation

The frequent crackdowns on errant health professionals and quacks just go to show how a vital services sector, the selling of drugs and other medical supplies, has been infiltrated by greedy people, putting patients at grave risk. In almost every region, hundreds of outlets have been shut down and attendants or owners arrested, but new ones emerge and some of those on which there were question marks are clandestinely cleared.

These merchants of death are motivated by the easy money to be made in this potentially lucrative business. In the slums of Nairobi and other towns and even rural areas, many of these illicit businesses exist. At trading centres, the rush to shut doors on being tipped off about an impending swoop is a common.

Besides the possibility of buying substandard or expired drugs, some of the pharmacists masquerade as clinical officers or doctors, selling prescription drugs over the counter. The consequences of this recklessness have often been devastating for the patients. Statistics indicate that one in every 10 Kenyans would rather consult a pharmacist than go to hospital. They take medicines for wrongly diagnosed illnesses, endangering themselves.

This is a huge challenge for the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, which is the regulator of a subsector where, out of the nearly 15,000 outlets operating across the country, only about 6,000 are registered. It is a pity that crooks prey on people who desperately need the right medicines to save their lives.

While we hope that the authorities will continue to identify and crack down on the con men and women, there is an urgent need to step up public education and awareness on the grave danger that lurks out there as regards illicit ‘chemists’.