Freetown, Jul. 6, 07 (MOHS) – The President, Dr. Ahamad Tejan Kabbah has officially commissioned the newly established “State-of-the art” Pharmaceutical Quality Control Laboratory at the Jenner-Wright Under Fives’ Clinic at Ross Road in Freetown.
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| From Right: The President, Dr. Ahamad Tejan Kabbah Delivering His Speech. |
Administered by the National Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the laboratory is intended to provide state of the art scientific means that would expose those engaged in working against the health of the state for personal gains.
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| From Right: The President, Dr. Ahamad Tejan Kabbah Cutting The Tape |
“The long hand of the Law, strengthened by this laboratory and trained personnel, is out to catch dealers in fake and sub-standard medicines and to deal with them accordingly”, The President strongly affirmed.
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| From right: Director of Drugs and Medical Supplies, Mr. Bassie Turay , Minister Of Health Mrs. Abator Thomas, President of Sierra Leone Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, Deputy Minister Development and Economic Planning Mr. Ibrahim Sesay and WHO Country Representative Dr. Felicitas Zawaira |
He described the laboratory as an ultra modern facility, adding that it would give added meaning to his farewell statement in Parliament that he would now proceed into retirement with the full satisfaction that their efforts and interventions as a government in the health sector did not go in vain.
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| Lab Equipment |
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| Equipment in the Laboratory |
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| Lab Equipment |
“The general population is a lot healthier today than when I assumed office in 1996”, the President told his audience.
Health and Sanitation Minister, Mrs. Abator Thomas observed that assuring the safety of lives through the intake of quality medicines is a major responsibility of governments all over the world, adding that her Ministry takes the mandate of providing appropriate, affordable and quality health care services seriously.
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| Minister of Health Mrs. Abator Thomas making her remarks |
She told her audience that the results of laboratory assessment of samples of marketed medicines enables the Pharmacy Board to evaluate the actual quality of products used in the country and to identify any problem areas. This, the Minister said is even more important considering that there are no local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in Sierra Leone, pointing out also that the fact remains that we depend 100 per cent on imported medicines.
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| The Audience |
The Minister expressed gratitude to the EU Health Sector Support Project, the NGO, “Saving Lives Through Alternate Options” (SLAO) in the United States of America, PFIZER, some important individuals and organizations that assisted the Board with equipment and other facilities, and other partners in health for their support.
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| The WHO Representative, Dr. Felicitas Zawaira Delivering Her Speech |
The WHO Representative, Dr. Felicitas Zawaira urged all Drug Regulatory Authority to remain vigilant in the discharge of their duties, as counterfeit methods become what she referred to as “more sophisticated”.
She said effective drug regulation promotes public health by ensuring that medicines are of the required quality, safety, and efficacy, appropriately manufactured, stored, distributed and dispensed, illegal manufacturing and trade adequately detected and sanctioned, health professionals and patients have the necessary information to enable them use medicines rationally, and the promotion and advertising of pharmaceuticals made fair, balanced, and aimed at strengthening rational drug use.
She spoke said the role of WHO has been multifaceted and reiterated their continued support to the ministry, government and people of Sierra Leone.
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| The Chairman of the Pharmacy Board, Mr. Bassie Turay |
The Chairman of the Pharmacy Board, Mr. Bassie Turay, said the BOARD was established in 1988 by an ACT of PARLIAMENT and later beefed up and amended by government in 2001, adding that the Board is charged with the responsibilities to control and regulate the practices of pharmacy, the profession and all persons engage in the manufacture, export, importation, storage, distribution, sales and dispensing of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, nutritional agents and medical devices in the Republic of Sierra Leone.
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| Mr Michael Lansana Registrar, Pharmacy Board |
‘’Prior to the establishment of this national laboratory the Board was annually spending close to $ 50,000 on laboratory fees to carry our analysis in Ghana with the Ghana and Food and Drug Agency and other sister regulatory agencies”. “Today that amount has been drastically minimize to less than $50,000”. “With this laboratory in place we can now carry out analysis for over 200 different pharmaceutical products per day compared to ten products per week when the facility was at its infancy stage”. The Chairman told his audience.
Earlier at the Queen Elizabeth 11 Quay in Freetown, Health and Sanitation Minister, Mrs. Abator Thomas officially opened the Inspection Office of the Pharmacy Board on the 25th of June, 2007 at a ceremony described as impressive.
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| Mrs. Abator Thomas Health Minister Making her Address During the Opening of the Inspection Office Ceremony |
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| Inside the Inspection Office |
The Minister noted that the establishment of the Inspection office at the quay would help facilitate the tracking down of fake, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs entering the port, thereby minimizing the incidence of sicknesses and mortality due to these drugs.
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| Fronttage of the Inspection Office |
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| Inside the Inspection Office |
Other speakers include the Director of Drugs and Medical Supplies and Chairman of the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Mr. Bassie Turay, the Registrar Pharmacy Board, Mr. Michael Lansana, and the Director of Hospitals and Laboratory Services, Dr. Kisito Sheku Daoh who chaired the occasion.
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| Dr. Kisito Daoh Chairman for the occasion |
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| Registrar Pharmacy Board, Mr. Michael Lansana |
The event, after the commissioning of the Board’s state-of-the-art laboratory at the Jenner-Wright Under Fives” Clinic at Race Course in Freetown was followed by the destruction of fake, counterfeit and substandard drugs at the Central Medical Stores, New England on Friday 29th June, 2007. Drugs, worth over Le 500,000,000. (Five hundred million Leones).were destroyed on fire.
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| Five Hundred Million Worth of Drugs Burnt at the Central Medical Stores Compound |
