23 Nov 2015

The global Pharma Health Fund, a charitable initiative funded by Merck Company based in Germany has donated  a mobile compact laboratory known as Minilab worth some P 45 000 to the Ministry of Health.

Briefing the media, a member of the executive board of Merck, Dr Kai Beckmann said the minilab can be used to identify inferior and counterfeit medicine rapidly and reliably as well as  improving health care in Botswana.

He said that the International Police Organization (Interpol) estimates that up to 30 per cent of all medicine in Africa are either counterfeit or of inferior quality.

Dr Beckmann said the mini lab will reduce bottlenecks in quality control for medicines especially in rural areas while at the same time it will   improve the structures for drug monitoring and ensuring that scarce resources are not wasted on worthless and even hazardous medicines.

The Minilab consists of two portable and tropic resistant suitcases that contain the means to detect the inferior or ineffective medicines.

It also offers a quick simple and low cost test methods to check medicines for external abnormalities, identity and content, and identifies 75 active pharmaceutical ingredients, particularly those in medicines commonly used against infectious diseases.

“The test methods include those for common antibiotics, anthelmintics,antiretroviral medicines,anti-malaria medicines, anti-tuberculosis medicines and others,” said Dr Beckmann.

He said within the scope of its responsible corporate governance, they are committed to improving access to health for populations in low income countries.

For her part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Ms El-halabi Shenaaz expressed delight at the gesture and assured the media that they will utilise the equipment as counterfeit medicines poses a serious threat to the health globally and  in Botswana as well.

Ms Shenaaz further said as it has been the procedure to monitor quality of drugs the equipment will assist in promoting and  ensuring access to quality drugs. Ends