The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dabah Varpilah, has attributed the influx of substandard medicines on the Liberian market to the lack of a standardized testing laboratory in the country.
By Obediah Johnson, [email protected]
The Grand Cape Mount County senator observed that the Liberia Medical and Health Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) does not have up-to-date laboratories to do testing of medicines being brought into the country.
She made the disclosure during regular sitting in the Chambers of the Senate on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Senator Varpilah was providing a briefing to her colleagues on the decision taken by the LMHRA to provide a manufacturing license to the Global Pharmaceuticals Company in Liberia.
She noted that authorities of the agency have claimed that the lack of adequate budgetary support from the government is responsible for the situation.
Located in the township of Caldwell Road on Bushrod Island, outside Monrovia, the company is owned by Ukraine Honorary Consul General to Liberia Dr. Nelson Oniyama.
Dr. Oniyama is also the General Manager of the Monrovia Breweries Incorporated.
In 2022, the Government of Liberia, through the LMHRA issued a license to the Company to manufacture about 13 medical products in Liberia with tax incentives.
But there have been concerns over the quality of the medicines that are being produced by the local company.
Senator Varpilah observed that the lack of up-to-date laboratories is preventing the LMHRA from thoroughly carrying out inspections on the importation and production of medicines and other health products in Liberia.
“Their inspections are not being carried out in the way that they would like to. However, working with Global Pharmaceuticals, they (LMHRA) used a third-party laboratory in Ghana to test the medicines that they were producing and based on the results, they issued them their license and certificate to produce the 13 different medications.”
Senator Varpilah pointed out that the company commenced production of the medicines early this year, and a huge consignment of over 1.3M worth of materials were brought into the country.
“In our exchanges with them, we realized that the LMHRA functional limitation is actually not doing real laboratory tests of medicines imported in the country, doing physical observation and issuing partners.”
According to her, the local company has not been able to sell the drugs because; foreigners are still importing medicines from Nigeria, China, India and other places.
As a result of this, Senator Varpilah pointed out that Global Pharmaceuticals is planning to engage large pharmacy operators in supplying their businesses and sell at factory cost.
However, raw materials used to manufacture the drugs and medicines are expiring due to the delay in finalizing those engagements with large pharmacy owners.
She disclosed that only two pharmaceuticals operating here are purchasing from Global Pharmaceuticals that is locally manufacturing medicines in Liberia.
“The LMHRA told us that they do not have the authority to provide or grant monopoly or restriction on anything that comes in the market; their role is strictly limited to testing for quality and ensuring that the right medications are brought into the country. They also did not speak to Global Pharmaceuticals’ capacity to produce the quantity of those specific medicines to meet the demand of the country.”
Senator Varpilah, however, underscored the need for proper support to be provided to the LMHRA.
She said the agency would effectively and efficiently carry on its assigned tasks and responsibilities if it is sufficiently supported by the government.
She stressed that the agency will be able to track substandard drugs if its inspection and testing capabilities are improved.
Senator Varpilah said medicines being imported and produced in the country must be thoroughly tested multiple times to guarantee the safety of consumers.
“There should be over time inspection and testing to ensure that the strength and quality of the medicines being produced are still in tight. The LMHRA should be supported so that they can have a laboratory or contract third-party testing to further test the 13 products that were licensed to Global Pharmaceuticals.”