People who are selling any substance which they claim to be able to treat any ailment without having proper authorization can be taken to task by the Ministry of Health.
Retailers who sell such items must be registered pharmacists as those substance, if they are sold as medication, become “pharmacy only medicine”.
Health Liaison Officer Iliesa Tora said the Ministry of Health has asked the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to be more vigilant to such practices and those who supply the substances or so-called medicines.
Mr Tora said in the recent months a lot of people have been advertising products which they claim to be able to treat certain ailments. He said this was not on.
“Based on the current pharmaceutical act, any substance which claims to treat any ailment becomes a pharmacy only item,” Mr Tora said.
“From now on our people will monitor the situation in the country because recently there have been a lot of people selling herbal medicine and other stuff that they claim can heal people of certain ailments.”
One of the problem that the Ministry of Health has seen is that some pharmaceutical wholesalers are bringing these “medicine” into the country and selling them off to retailers who do not know that they are not allowed to be selling them.
“Pharmaceutical wholesalers who do this are warned that they can be de-registered,” Mr Tora warned.
“And retailers who are selling these items and are not registered pharmacist are being advised to remove these items from their shelves.”