via PlusNews Global
Kenya's government is scrambling to remove thousands of batches of counterfeit antiretrovirals (ARVs) from circulation after patients and health workers reported irregularities in the appearance and texture of a widely used drug.
The ARVs were found to be falsified versions of a World Health Organization (WHO)-certified generic drug purchased through a distributor endorsed by the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board (KPPB), the country's drug regulatory authority.
According to the KPPB, one batch of the fake Zidolam-N, with the number E100766, is marked as manufactured in 2009 and set to expire in May 2013, while a second carries the batch number A9366 with manufacture and expiry dates of June 2009 and May 2012 respectively. The main irregularities included discolouration, mould and crumbliness; the packaging is also of varying quality and the text differs in font and colour from the genuine drug.
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Kenya's government is scrambling to remove thousands of batches of counterfeit antiretrovirals (ARVs) from circulation after patients and health workers reported irregularities in the appearance and texture of a widely used drug. In September, nurses working with the medical NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières - which runs HIV and tuberculosis clinics in the capital, Nairobi, and western Kenya - reported irregularities in the appearance of the antiretroviral Zidolam-N, a combination treatment containing the ARVs zidovudine, lamivudine and nevirapine.
The ARVs were found to be falsified versions of a World Health Organization (WHO)-certified generic drug purchased through a distributor endorsed by the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board (KPPB), the country's drug regulatory authority.
According to the KPPB, one batch of the fake Zidolam-N, with the number E100766, is marked as manufactured in 2009 and set to expire in May 2013, while a second carries the batch number A9366 with manufacture and expiry dates of June 2009 and May 2012 respectively. The main irregularities included discolouration, mould and crumbliness; the packaging is also of varying quality and the text differs in font and colour from the genuine drug.
Read the rest.
[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]
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