Fake HIV/AIDS Drugs Confirmed On Sale in Kenya

Following confirmation that fake HIV/AIDS drugs are in circulation in Kenya, the World Health Organisation is calling on HIV/AIDS patients who suspect they may have been prescribed the fake drugs to contact their doctors promptly.

The UN, which has been working with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Kenya, in a statement yesterday said falsified Zidolam-N tablets have been found in various degrees of deterioration including moulding, discolouration and breakages.

Genuine Zidolam-N is a combination of three popular anti-retrovirals - Lamivudine, Zidovudine and Nevirapine are manufactured by Hetero Drugs Ltd of India.

Following this development, WHO has also warned neighbouring countries to make sure the fake medicines are not smuggled into their markets. On Monday Uganda's National Drug Authority warned its public to be on the lookout for the fake Zidolam-N tablets circulating in Kenya.

Contacted yesterday, Dr Kipkerich Kosgei, the head of the Poisons Board, said the agency was preparing a public statement on the matter. He said the issue had been under investigation for more than a month and they did not want to go public earlier for fear that involved parties would go underground.

He said evidence so far indicated the medicines had been donated by a US charity to a local non-governmental group for free distribution but were being sold. "We have found some of these drugs stored in very poor conditions with some of the samples having turned totally black because of exposure," he told our sister paper Daily Nation yesterday.

He said the Kenya's National Drug Quality Control Laboratory was carrying out an analysis to determine the chemical composition of the falsified samples. "The false products found in Kenya are tablets carrying a reference to 'batch number E100766', and claiming to be manufactured in November 2010, with an expiry date of October 2013," says the WHO in its statement.

A similar warning has also been posted online by Global Fund, saying the fake batch bear a blue logo that belongs to a Canadian private organization. However, the Fund says when contacted, the organisation said it was not involved in the procurement or distribution of the product.

"Evaluation of the fake product presentation, tablet's taste, colour, odour and feel by the WHO and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board has established that the packaging and labelling of the falsified products are of poor quality, and contain tablets in varying degrees of deterioration," says WHO.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

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