The authorities in Kuajok Municipal Council in Warrap State on Tuesday said they have confiscated expired human and veterinary medicines in the Kuajok market.
According to the officials, a committee comprised of eleven members was formed on 3 May and tasked with to searching expired commodities.
Joseph Monybut Kuot, the chairperson of the committee, told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that they finalized their report on Monday and summited it to the Council.
“We went to the market to search for expired goods and we found out that most of the expired products are human and animal drugs,” he said. “We checked all the pharmacies, drug stores, and clinics, and many cartons of penicillin, amoxicillin capsules, and other drugs I cannot pronounce because I am not a medical personnel, had expired.”
According to Monybut, most of the drugs expired in 2021 and 2022.
“We have collected the drugs which expired in the last two years and have kept them in our store in Kuajok Municipal Council and we wrote a report yesterday (Monday) to the chief executive officer,” he said. “We will search for expired products again in June and July because some items are left with one or two months to expire.”
Monybut said that some drugs for cows, goats, sheep, and chickens among other livestock stocked in veterinary pharmacies were also found to have expired.
He said the mayor will determine the amount of fines to be paid by those found selling expired drugs and other commodities.
The official however said that no consumable goods were found with expiry dates in the Kuajok market.
Meanwhile, Kuajok Town Mayor John Akol confirmed that he received the committee’s report and that those found breaching and resisting the policy will be fined not less than SSP 50,000.
“We have formed a committee to check outdated goods and the committee managed to collect expired drugs from seven pharmacies in the Kuajok market,” he said. “They have found different expired drugs like malaria syrups, some vitamins, and amoxicillin capsules.”
Akol said that the expired goods will be burned and those refusing the administrative fine will be arraigned in the High Court.