Monday 17th August, 2026 07:07 AM|
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board has urged Kenyans to be cautious when buying and using medicines, warning consumers to look out for signs that a product could be falsified.
Dr Nambwa Pamela, Kenya’s pharmacoepidemiologist and pharmacovigilance specialist at the board, made the remarks during a local television interview on Sunday night, August 16, 2026, while discussing pharmacovigilance, post-market surveillance and efforts to protect the public from unsafe and suspected falsified medicines.
She said the Board regularly issues safety alerts and rapid communications to healthcare providers and members of the public whenever concerns arise over particular pharmaceutical products.
“We’ve been very clear, and we alert our healthcare providers and even the public through the safety alerts and the rapid alerts communication that we send out on how to identify maybe a fake medicine,” Nambwa said.
She advised consumers to carefully examine the packaging and general appearance of medicines before taking them, particularly when a product looks different from what they normally use.
According to Dr Nambwa, people who regularly take certain medicines may be able to notice unusual changes because they are familiar with the genuine products.
“For the chronic patients who are using medicine for a long time, you’d find that they are used to their medications. So, this time when they’re going to buy a product, they would actually notice some discrepancy, some differences,” she said.
Consumers should check the colour of tablets, spelling, product name and other details on the packaging. A medicine that suddenly looks different from the one normally used should raise suspicion.
Nambwa gave the example of paracetamol, saying consumers should question a product if its appearance changes unexpectedly.
“If I’m used to paracetamol, it’s supposed to be maybe white. When I buy it, and I see some funny colour like brown, yellowish, or something that is a bit off, we just tell you, you need to be suspicious,” she said.
She also cited a recent alert involving suspected falsified Postinor-2 as an example of the risks consumers need to be aware of.
However, she cautioned the public against trying to establish on their own whether a medicine is genuine.
“You don’t need to be certain; just be suspicious that this medicine is looking off,” she said.
Consumers who notice suspicious medicines should report them to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, which can investigate and take appropriate regulatory action.
