Today, NDA takes on another phase of raising awareness of dangers of buying medicine from hawkers by placing stickers on the emergency window of commuter taxis that operate around Kampala and those plying along Jinja-Mbale Road.
Hawking of medicine is illegal and whoever is doing so is fleecing the unsuspecting public of their hard earned income for no health benefits.
Dangers of buying medicine from hawkers
- Are unscrupulous individuals and are not qualified to prescribe or dispense medicine and they expose you to risks
- Don’t operate in permanent structures, so follow-up in case of a problem is difficult
- Engage in unethical advertising of medicines which contravenes the law, misinforming the public leading to poor decision making – (late reporting of illnesses, interactions of herbal medicines with conventional ones, wasting income on unverifiable benefits..
- Substandard products which can result in various drug related problems, including drug resistance and life threatening events.
This places the public’s lives at a very big risk.
This campaign follows over 40 bus companies NDA is working with throughout the country that has resulted into sensitization, production of posters/stickers in different languages that were placed on 900 buses to stop hawking of drugs in buses. The campaign has enabled travelers appreciate the health risks associated with buying medicines from hawkers.
Unfortunately, some people have taken-up drugs hawking as a livelihood and some sections of the public support these people. We call upon you all to join NDA and complement its efforts against this vice in shift markets, parks and other public places. If you stop buying drugs from hawkers, the drug hawking business will be no more.
NDA will continue to protect Ugandans and their animals through efficient regulation of all the drugs (human and veterinary drugs) on Uganda market.
