Mpika Town Council has confiscated various medicines worth over K10,000 (Ten Thousand Kwacha) from illegal drug stores operating at Kanyelele Gold Mine in Mpika District in Muchinga Province.
Mpika Town Council Senior Health Inspector Francis Kapila disclosed the development to the media shortly after the operation, describing it as part of the local authority’s ongoing commitment to enforcing public health standards across the district.
Mr Kapila said the medicines were confiscated by a combined team of Mpika District health inspectors and Council police during a joint enforcement operation conducted at the mine premises.
He noted that the operation was carefully planned and executed to ensure that all drug stores on site were thoroughly inspected.
The Senior Health Inspector emphasised that conventional medicines play a critical role in the treatment and management of various diseases and health conditions affecting communities, making it more important that their distribution and sale is properly regulated.
He pointed out that it was against this backdrop that the Mpika Town Council resolved to conduct targeted inspections of several drug stores operating at the Kanyelele Gold Mine, with the specific aim of ensuring that medicines were being sold strictly in accordance with established health regulations and standards.
Mr Kapila confirmed that medicines with a combined value of more than ten thousand Kwacha were confiscated from the premises during the operation, adding that the items seized included a range of pharmaceutical products that were being sold without the requisite authorisation or proper storage conditions.
He further disclosed that the local authority would not limit its enforcement activities to the Kanyelele Gold Mine alone, but would continue conducting routine and situational inspections across the district to deter would-be offenders from engaging in the illegal sale of medicines.
“The inspectors will continue inspecting all pharmacies and drug stores at the mines and in other parts of the district,” Mr. Kapila said,
Mr Kapila adding that anyone found operating illegally would face the full consequences provided under the law.
Meanwhile, Mpika District Commissioner David Siame has issued a stern warning that the government will not tolerate the illegal sale of medicines anywhere in the district.
Mr Siame stressed that the dispensing and sale of medicines by untrained personnel poses a serious and direct risk to the health and safety of communities.
The District Commissioner emphasised that the government would work relentlessly to ensure that no drug store sells medicines illegally within the district.
He has since called on all stakeholders, including mine management, community leaders and residents to seriously support the enforcement effort.
“We are appealing to all people at the mines not to entertain illegal drug stores,” Mr Siame said,
And Mr Kapila has urged the residents to report any suspected illegal pharmaceutical operations to the relevant authorities.
The local authority has further pledged that the inspections will be conducted without fear or favour, making clear that there would be no sacred cows during the exercise regardless of the status or location of any establishment found to be operating outside the law.
The illegality of medicines needs better explanation
Was the medicine stolen? Was it made illegally? Was it expired medicine? Was it illegally imported/smuggled into the country?
Do your homework reporters.