The Acting Registrar of Pharmacy Board Sierra Leone, Dr. James Peter Komeh has urged Sierra Leoneans to report any fake medical prescriptions or drugs to the board.

Pharmacy Board Sierra Leone is tasked with ensuring the monitoring all pharmaceutical products in the country. Dr. Komeh said that the institution is there to protect the lives of Sierra Leoneans from fake drugs that are smuggled into the country. “I urge citizens to be vigilant and ensure they buy drugs at certified pharmacies in the country and avoid drug peddlers because they are endangering your health with expired and fake drugs”, he said.

Dr. Komeh added that fake drugs can be dangerous for several reasons because they are falsified and mislabeled substances that often contain the wrong amount of active ingredients. He furthered that it most times results in death.

While encouraging Sierra Leoneans, Dr. Urged that citizens should help the board to clamp down on peddlers and fake drugs in the country. He revealed that the agency doesn’t have staff to monitor all border crossing points in the country which is a loophole for drug smugglers to import dangerous and fake drugs into the country. He ended up begging Sierra Leoneans to put the interest of the country first by abiding by the law and following due procedure to sell drugs.

“The issue of fake drugs is a national concern and we must all put hands on deck to eradicate it in the country before it becomes a catastrophe.”