The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has warned against a list circulating on social media purported to be that of licensed pharmacy outlets in the country.
The regulator in a statement on Friday said registration of pharmaceutical outlets is a continuous process with the list of the outlets being updated every minute to reflect the changes.
“The PPB has taken note of an unverified list of pharmaceutical outlets circulating on social media, and wishes to clarify that the registration of outlets is a continuous process,” PPB CEO Fred Siyoi said.
“As such, the list of licensed pharmaceutical outlets is updated on a real-time basis to reflect any decision on approval, suspension, revocation or closure,” he added.
Siyoi said the list of all licensed pharmaceutical outlets is normally issued with a QR code by the board, which allows the public to scan using any smartphone to verify the authenticity of the license.
He said the list of licensed pharmaceutical outlets as of March 11, 2024, had been provided and sorted by county, constituency and ward.
“Further verification can be made by searching the website or scanning the QR code on the license displayed on the outlets,” Siyoi said.
He further noted that the list of licensed outlets is publicly available on the PPB website and reiterated the board’s commitment to protecting the health of the public.
The board’s mission is to ensure the availability of pharmaceutical services in Kenya which satisfy the needs of all for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases using safe, efficacious, high quality and cost-effective pharmaceutical products.
Pursuant to the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, a person cannot operate a pharmacy business in Kenya unless the premises have current approval.
All the holders of financial interest in the pharmacy business are to be registered as pharmacists or enrolled as pharmaceutical technologists.
The board has repeatedly warned wholesalers against selling medicines to unregistered and unlicensed pharmacies.
The PPB had also raised concern that some of the pharmacies issued with closure notices during the last inspection have defied the order to close down.
The board has been stepping up the fight against substandard, falsely labelled and falsified drugs to protect consumers from the dangers posed.