Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo says indicated defective Erythromycin Tablets will be distributed to Zambians, should independent tests being done in South Africa, by Research Institute of Industrial Pharmacy, certifies them fit.
In a ministerial statement in Parliament today, on the non-compliance of Erythromycin procured by ZAMMSA, Ms. Masebo said government and Missionpharma agreed that a third-party independent laboratory would conduct a re-test, after the supplier rejected the tests conducted by Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority.
Ms. Masebo also said the cost of retesting the medicine will be born by the supplier of the said drugs.
And in response to a follow-up question from Solwezi East Member of Parliament, Alex Katakwe, Ms. Masebo said both the Zambian government and Missionpharma agreed to accept the results from the said independent test.
She said the supplier is also mandated to replace the non-compliant drugs should the test results agree with those of ZAMRA.
Meanwhile, Ms. Masebo maintained that ZAMMSA has not distributed any defective health centre kits to any public health facility.
“Therefore, it is incorrect to imply that there has been a recall of medicines because we haven’t distributed the commodity in question”, said Ms. Masebo.
She said all the batches that failed the test have been quarantined at ZAMMSA and that the the supplier will be required to replace the drugs should the retest results confirm noncompliance .
