Mozambique confirms two more mpox cases - in Maputo province
250 Kg of stolen medicines seized in informal markets – Mozambique
7:25 CAT | 14 Oct 2016
The National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) in the central Mozambican province of Manica has seized 250 kilos of medicines, believed stolen from the National Health Service, that were being sold in informal markets in the provincial capital, Chimoio.
The Manica INAE delegate, Maria Fernandes, told the independent television station STV that the stolen pharmaceutical products included anti-malarial medicines, antibiotics and painkillers. Some of the medicines were past their expiry dates, while others had become a threat to human health because they had been displayed in the open, exposed to high temperatures.
In 2015, the police had declared war on the sale of medicines in the informal markets. Yet the practice is continuing.
The Manica chief provincial doctor, Firmino Jaceta, told STV that since the start of the year three health officials have been caught in illicit possession of medicines and have lost their jobs. Ten people found selling stolen medicines in markets have been arrested, and will face criminal proceedings.
The situation seems even worse in Zambezia province, where medicines valued at 15 million meticais (about 197,000 US dollars, at current exchange rates) have been stolen from health centres in Milange, Namacurra, Gile and Mocuba districts.
As in Manica, it is believed that the medicines have been taken for sale in informal markets.
A spokesperson for the Zambezia Provincial Health Directorate, Blayton Caetano, said “the Provincial Medical Inspectorate is working with the police, and three people have been detained”.
Source: AIM
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