NDA Orders Enforcement Against Illegal Drug Vending in Passenger Buses

The National Drug Authority, a body that regulates the manufacturing and management of drugs in the country has directed its department of compliance to end the vending of drugs in buses plying long routes within the country.

This follows concerns from travelers in public means of transport especially along Kampala Gulu, Lira, West Nile route, Kampala to Karamoja via Mbale and Kampala Busia-Malaba among others

Despite regular public warnings by Ministry of Health and the drug Regulator, many local drug/herb manufacturers continue to flood local markets and the buses that ply various routes from Kampala to upcountry areas with their uncertified health products as passengers are key targets for these products.

Most of the drugs sold by the mobile vendors are not ISO nor NDA or even UNBS certified and therefore not cleared for use.

These range from those for treatment of Ulcers, Diabetes, so-called Man Power enhancement, stroke, high blood pressure and solving reproductive challenges among others. In West Nile, the vendors mainly target Congolese and South Sudanese nationals who tend to buy them without much questioning at prices ranging from 5,000 shillings upwards.

Along West Nile Kampala route, the drug vendors join the travelers from Luwero or Bombo with their merchandize, which they first introduce and move from passenger to passenger in the buses to sell their locally made herbal products.

Some of the drugs are in solid form while others are plant seeds, liquids, powders and ointments like liquid tooth paste, which they claim is made to kill germs, brighten teeth, stop bleeding from gums and black seed which they said treats all kinds of diseases.

Emmanuel Omirambe, NDA’s regional manager for West Nile, said the practice has persisted despite mass sensitizations against the vice and calls for an immediate end to it as it pits the lives of patients at risk.

Meanwhile URN secured two of the local drugs being sold in the buses; Smile for tooth whitening and treatment from infections with writings in English and French and another Black Seed for Ulcers, Diabetes, Pressure containing the writing “product of God the Healer” with a purported godly phone 0777582668.

URN also encountered one of the mobile drug vendors identified only as James M, who spoke in Kiswahili and English, and this is what he said as he marketed his uncertified drugs to travelers in a buses travelling from Arua to Kampala.

Fredrick Ssekana, the head of community services at National Drug Authority in Kampala has condemned the practice of vending drugs in buses saying; “It’s not only illegal but poses real danger to lives of people who consume such uncertified drugs.”

Unverified intelligence reports indicate that the drug vendors in the buses are either related to the owners of the bus companies or pay a fee for selling their products in the buses. URN