Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Wednesday raised concern that many Kenyans were risking their lives buying counterfeit medicines sold by Kenyan chemists.
Speaking during the opening of the 2023 Consumers International Global Congress, the Deputy President stated that it was worrying that two out of five medicines on the shelves were counterfeits.
Gachagua noted that the data had been provided by the United Nations in conjunction with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM).
The DP noted that while the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) had put in concerted efforts to crack down on counterfeits, there was a need for extra measures to protect consumers.
This would partly be achieved through raising public awareness to ensure the consumer is protected from unsafe practices.
“This factor (counterfeit medicines) not only endangers the lives of consumers but also injures confidence in modern treatment,” he regretted.
In the last 14 years, CAK has received 500 complaints of counterfeit drugs which has negatively impacted over 20 million Kenyans.
To fight counterfeits, CAK was mandated to work with other regulators including the Kenya Bureau of Standards, Communication Authority, Anti-Counterfeit Authority, and Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Other state organs to help CAK clamp down on counterfeits include the Department of Weights and Measures and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCA).
Gachagua further noted that 30 per cent of counterfeit goods are locally manufactured while the other 70 per cent are smuggled into the market.
In a new directive, the Deputy President stated that Kenya would use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to track, arrest and suppress the networks of consumer exploitations across the world.
Gachagua added that as mobile banking and digital payments keep rising, more consumer issues emerge, hence relevant laws must be aligned to meet the demands of such developments.
