Monrovia, Liberia – Dr. Luke Babo, the Managing Director of LMHRA, revealed that every day, 45% of expired or subpar medications are advertised and sold in the Liberian market and on the streets.
Dr. Bawo made the following statement during a one-day media event on Friday, July 12, 2024 in Monrovia: “The quality of commodity sold or circulated is bad.” Every day, over 45% of outdated or subpar medications are marketed and sold, posing a major risk to public health.
Additionally, the 180 tons of expired medications in the nation would eventually find their way onto the market, the LMHRA Managing Director told the media.
Dr. Bawo noted that there has been persistent mistrust in the formal health sector as a result of these inferior or expired medications, since many patients are not receiving treatment for their conditions at the medical institutions.
According to Dr. Bawo, the media is the ideal ally in the fight to prevent deceptive advertising and ensure the effectiveness of high-quality medical products.
“False advertisements are rampant in our society, so we must limit them in order to ensure the efficacy of medications. The media can constructively assist in this endeavor.”
A one-day media roundtable training was conducted over the weekend by the Liberia Medicines and Health items Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) in an attempt to stop deceptive advertising on health and non-health items.
The purpose of the training forum was to inform the media about the harmful effects of deceptive advertising on public health.
It was designed to teach journalists about the value of disseminating accurate, impartial, and reliable information about health items and to address the process for approving health product advertisements.
Dr. Bawo emphasized during the engagement the significance of media involvement in putting a stop to deceptive advertising on health and medical items.
The head of the LMHRA claimed that there is a dire need for education and awareness due to the worrisome quality of inferior health items that are available on the Liberian market.
