Mathatisi Sebusi
THE absence of a body that regulates medicines imported into the country is putting the lives of Basotho at risk.
Unlike most countries of the world, who have medicine control bodies that test and authorise medicines for public use, Lesotho does not have one. It just imports medicines offered by other countries.
Maseru District Health Manager, Moseme Makhele, warns that is a very dangerous practice.
He said people living with HIV were particularly vulnerable to getting medicines which are resistant to their immune systems, leaving them at severe risk.
This is all despite the passage of the Medicine and Medical Devices Control Authority Act 2023, which provides for the establishment of the Lesotho Medicines and Medical Devices Authority to monitor and regulate the use of medicines.
Although the law to establish medicines regulatory body was passed, this has not happened because of the resistance from medical practitioners. They argue that the regulatory body would lack the expertise to make informed decisions about their field.
Dr Makhele said that without a regulatory body, Lesotho was overwhelmed with drugs from around the world, some of which were ineffective or dangerous.
He said some of these drugs failed to cure illnesses and instead resulted in resistance to other treatments.
Last year, between July and August, many pregnant women died during labour after experiencing severe bleeding.
Dr Makhele said he believed the deaths were caused by compromised or ineffective oxytocin, a hormone that manages key aspects of the reproductive system, including labour and delivery.
“The women were either resistant to the oxytocin administered to them, or the drug itself was not effective,” Dr Makhele explained.
“Even though I do not have the exact numbers, a high number of women died during labour because they were given this drug.”
He said that the oxytocin in question was manufactured in Argentina and entered the country without any tests. Additionally, the widely used antibiotic tetracycline had been discontinued because many patients developed resistance to it.
“We are currently facing a significant problem with other drugs, including ARVs. We have had to change ARVs multiple times because they became ineffective. Even the strongest available ARV, dolutegravir (DTG), has proven ineffective in some patients,” Dr Makhele said.
These he said during an inspection of the Baylor College of Children’s Foundation Lesotho by the parliamentary Social Cluster Committee, which is evaluating health centres around Maseru to address potential challenges and resource shortages in the health delivery system.
Dr Makhele explained that without a regulatory body, it was impossible to verify the quality and safety of drugs entering the country.
Poor-quality drugs could lead to ineffective treatment and resistance to other medications, he said.
“The country will continue to face health issues and increased mortality rates due to drug resistance unless we regulate medical products entering Lesotho. Resistance to some drugs also means that patients will have to use more expensive medications, which financially struggling countries like Lesotho cannot afford.”
Dr Makhele mentioned that they were in the process of compiling data to determine the number of Basotho resistant to drugs and those who had died as a result.
Chairperson of the Social Cluster Committee, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, acknowledged the urgency of establishing the regulatory body, given that the legislation had been passed.
However, he noted that there was resistance from alternative medicine practitioners who argued that the regulatory body would lack the expertise to make informed decisions about their field. Additionally, there was a belief that the government did not support alternative medicines and sought to regulate them unfairly.
Mr Makhalanyane assured Dr Makhele that the committee would address these concerns and identify what was hindering the establishment of the regulatory body.