Poisons board: Beware of falsified batches of HIV drugs in circulation

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board has warned of substandard batches of antiretroviral medication suspected to be circulating in the country

The PPB CEO Fred Siyoi in a statement on Wednesday warned that there were suspicious batches of falsified and substandard batches of Turvada, an antiretroviral medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS.

The batches in question are Truvada 200mg/300mg tablets.

Truvada is one of several medications that are currently used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus infection.

It is a PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) medication that reduces the chances of getting HIV from sex or injection drug use.

According to CDC, if taken as PrEP daily, the presence of the medication in the bloodstream can sometimes stop the virus from establishing itself and slow the spread of HIV in your body.

"The public is notified that these batches are illegally in the market as they have failed to meet the approved marketing authorization requirements evidenced by falsified packaging and labelling,” Siyoi said.

Siyoi has cautioned the public against the use of the said products as their safety, quality and efficacy cannot be assured.

"The PPB will take stern legal and regulatory action against any person found to be engaged in any form of trading, distribution, wholesale, retail, issuance or dispensing of these product batches,” Siyoi said.

Siyoi said the PPB has initiated a rapid response and heightened surveillance to verify whether the product is presently circulating in the market to safeguard public health safety.

“The PPB assures the public that other batches of this product currently circulating in the Kenyan market meet the required marketing authorization requirements on safety, quality and efficacy,” Siyoi said.

PPB is now calling on the public and healthcare providers to report all suspicious, substandard and falsified medical products through the various existing reporting channels.