By Fabian Hakalits – EMTV Port Moresby
Concerns have been raised over the high number of medical drugs sold on streets and through retail outlets.
Health Secretary, Pascoe Kase, has instructed area medical stores for confidential reports to investigate medicine that goes missing.
Medicine sold on streets and through retail outlets have caught the eye of the National Health Department.
Kase says if these medicines are from the public health system, inquiries will be made to discipline officers involved.
“If it’s from the public system through the government system, we will get to the bottom of it.
“Recently I have instructed the area medical stories for confidential reports so that we get the bottom of where this medicines comes from and are being sold on the streets,” he said.
It has also been reported that counterfeit medicine has been sold, and people have been purchasing them without a medical experts prescription or advice.
Kase said that it is the health department’s responsibility to ensure medicines do not enter the streets.
“By law, nobody should be seeing these kind of medicines on the streets. By law no retailers should be selling antibiotics over the counter in trade stories. All these are illegal training. They should only be given under doctor’s advice.
“Unnecessary use of antibiotics is quiet a big risks and an issue, Its not helping us. They should be given to doctors, only after the doctors advice,” Kase said.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with police and customs to investigate and arrest those who sell medicine on the street.
Medicine must be taken per advice from a doctor or health worker, because it may cause long-term damage if taken incorrectly.
