Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of commissioning a survey later this year to determine the actual prevalence of substandard and falsified medicines in the country.
This comes hot-on-the-heels of revelations by a study report conducted by researchers at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences which alleged that 14 percent of Malawi’s antibiotics are substandard and falsified.
Joseph Josiah, PMRA’s publicist, said for the past five years they have invested heavily in capacity building of its medicine manufacturing inspectors as one way of improving compliance to good manufacturing practices.
He added that PMRA’s inspection team also relies on inspection outcomes of SADC Good Manufacturing Practice inspectors for manufacturers located outside Malawi.
Josiah revealed that between 2022 and April 2024, PMRA recorded 18 cases of substandard medicines and two cases of falsified medicines.
According to PMRA’s records, in all cases, the defective batches were recalled, and regulatory investigations were conducted.
By Alufisha Fischer
