People urged not to buy drugs from streets, shops

PEOPLE in East New Britain have been told not to buy medicine such as Panadol and Amoxicillin from street vendors and shops.
Provincial pharmacist Leo Kume said with the slight shortage of medicines at health facilities, people would be referred to pharmacies and they must not be tempted to buy their medicines off the street or shops.
“During this period you will expect a lot of people to buy medicine from pharmacies or anywhere else they can find them.
“There are medicines that are called prescription medicines prescribed by health workers such as Amoxicillin which means you cannot buy it in shops or streets and then there is pharmacy medicine that you can only buy from pharmacies such as Panadol, Mala 1 and Artimeter even though it is not prescribed.”
He said the Medicine and Cosmetic Act regulated and controlled the supply and use of medical supply and any person selling medicine and not following rules and guidelines could be penalised according to the act.
The penalty is 12 months imprisonment and K1000 on-the-spot fine.
“People may end up being overdosed or underdosed if they do not get proper diagnosis and buy medicines on the streets,” he said.
He said in ENB, the Tropicana, Chemcare and City Pharmacy were licensed pharmacies for people to seek help from.