Thousands of fake morning-after pills found at city depot
The Kenya Anti-counterfeit Agency has confiscated about 31,000 pieces of fake “morning-after” pills estimated to be worth Sh7 million. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- For original pills, the packet has an area where, once you scratch, you will see a combination of numbers and alphabets.
- The pills are manufactured by Gedeon Ritcher in Budapest, Hungary.
- The fake drugs also come in a green pack and have a white “scratch area” on the reverse side of the pack.
The Kenya Anti-counterfeit Agency has confiscated about 31,000 pieces of fake “morning-after” pills estimated to be worth Sh7 million.
The consignment of the fake emergency contraceptive, commonly known as P2, was discovered together with other counterfeit materials including 51 designer purses and 4,000 electronics worth up to Sh25 million at the Embakasi Inland Container Depot, Nairobi.
“Some of the confiscated products included 31,000 pairs of fake P2 contraceptives that would have posed a great danger to the health and lives of thousands of Kenyans,” said Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed.
Mr Mohamed further said that the majority of the products confiscated originated from China through the port of Dubai.
VIGILANT
Three years ago the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board warned Kenyans to be vigilant after counterfeit ‘Postinor-2’ drugs were found in Kampala, Uganda, by World Health Organisation officials.
Postinor 2, (commonly referred to as P2) contains two white pills used as an oral emergency contraceptive to prevent pregnancies within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
They are also used when a condom breaks, or in the event of rape. They are available over the counter.
The Board in 2015 put out an alert because of the country’s proximity to Uganda, which could make it easy for the drugs to find their way into Kenya.
ORIGINAL
The original drug comes in a green pack with a white “scratch area” on the reverse side that, when scratched with a coin or piece of metal, reveals the word “original” as well as the company’s logo RG.
According to the PPB, whereas the fake pills are packaged in a way that is very similar to the original one, the “scratch to reveal area” is non-functional.
For original pills, the packet has an area where, once you scratch, you will see a combination of numbers and alphabets.
The pills are manufactured by Gedeon Ritcher in Budapest, Hungary.
FAKE DRUGS
The fake drugs, on the other hand, also come in a green pack and have a white “scratch area” on the reverse side of the pack.
But when the white strip at the bottom of the pack is scratched with a coin, it does not bear the word “original”.
The fakes cannot prevent pregnancy because they lack any active ingredient.
