Plans are advanced to put in place a national quality regulatory law to protect the pharmaceutical industry from counterfeits and sub-standard drugs that have been flooding the country, the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (Saz) said.
Zimbabwe has in recent years seen an upsurge in the sale of drugs on the informal sector, as traders took advantage of the laxity of the countrys laws.
Saz director-general Eve Gadzikwa told delegates attending the Datlabs ISO 9001 certification on Friday the increased piracy in counterfeit drugs was a major concern to the health delivery systems of most nations hence the heighted surveillance by regulatory authorities worldwide.
The law will empower Saz in compulsory testing of products in the country. We have been assured that by year end the law will be in place, Gadzikwa said.
The Attorney-Generals Office has visited my office several times and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said they will make it (the law) a reality.
Gadzikwa said products coming into the country should be accompanied by a certificate of conformity from the respective countries following international practice.
She said at the moment that was not the case in the country.
The Saz boss noted that sub-standard drugs posed a risk to patients health emanating from treatment failure and toxicity.
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Datlabs marketing manager Clever Mugadza said capacity utilisation in the pharmaceutical sector capacity was around 55% as working capital remained a major problem.
We are mobilising our funding internally. We try to meet our obligations as a company, he said.
Datlabs produces prescription and over-the-counter medicines such as Solphyllex, Asalen and Panado and health and personal care products that include Ingrams Camphor cream, Datavitamin, Lanolene milk and Cafemol.
Companies in the country have been affected by infrastructural challenges, resulting in services being disrupted and becoming unreliable. Of concern to the industry is the erratic electricity and water supplies.
