Drug authority fires back over fake condoms sting

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The status of the National Drug Authority's (NDA) internationally certified laboratory was on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, overshadowed by sharp accusations of fake medical products flooding the local market.

The controversy arose during an engagement between Parliament's Defense and Internal Affairs Committee, chaired by Wilson Kajwengye (Nyabushozi County, NRM) and officials from NDA led by Dr James William Tamale.

The debate stemmed from the Forensic Evidence Bill 2024, which proposes transferring regulatory oversight of forensic and scientific analytical services to the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory (DGAL).

Whereas proponents have argued that the shift will centralise oversight, critics have warned of a potential conflict of interest and sidelining of private laboratories not accredited by the body.

During the interaction, Joel Ssebikari (Ntwetwe County, NRM) added fuel to the fire, citing incompetence in some testing laboratories as justification for the proposed changes. He pointed to an incident sometime back involving fake condoms, which he claimed highlighted gaps in regulatory vigilance.

“We are a country that is developing in technology. For example, if we want to manufacture medicine, we get items from abroad and now NDA does not test these chemicals and items that come from outside. You only test the drugs that are already manufactured…. On top of that, there was a time, the Ministry of Health said there were fake condoms,” Ssebikari said.

“I remember that time that I think people who used Lifeguard from this period to that period are in danger, might have contracted the disease (laughs). Such scenarios do come because of inefficiency in our departments. There is another incident, they were saying these antibiotics are not good for human consumption. So don’t take them. Don’t you think we need a body or an agency to cure this?” he posed.

NDA spokesperson, Abiazz Rwamwiri, swiftly rebutted the claims saying that most of those concerns raised by Ssebikari were raised by them which goes a long way to show how competent they are.

Condoms

“You would never have known about the defects of Lifeguard if it were not for NDA. We tested those condoms and advised Ugandans. I think the question was how it was communicated. Because we got them before they were released onto the market, so thanks to NDA you have been able to know about even those antibiotics you are talking about,” Rwamwiri clarified.

Comfort Ssenyange, an official from the NDA, says NDA's Quality Control Laboratory (KCL) holds a Medicines Laboratory (ML) Level Four accreditation from the World Health Organization (WHO).

"These are few in the world, so it is a centre of excellence as far as analytical services of medicine is concerned,” Ssenyange remarked.

Adding that “Those labs don’t only test the final product. They also test the inputs to those products, the different chemicals that are critical to product safety.”

Under Clause 12(1)(o) of the Bill titled “The Anti-Counterfeiting Goods Bill, 2023'' moved by Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality, JEEMA), convicted counterfeit dealers face a decade in jail or a fine five times the value of the prevailing retail price of a genuine product.