Desperation Pushes Cancer Patients in Kenya To Illicit Drugs for Medication

Desperation for cancer control has made most Kenyan patients to seek cheaper and illicit drugs from the black market.

Patients and caregivers who make frequent visit to India, have taken advantage of the desperation among patients who cannot afford to travel to the Asian country by selling them illicit cancer drugs.

The patients who cannot afford the expenses have now opted for the ‘cheaper options’. This has led to increasing in cancer drugs black market.

“There are patients who may have gone to India for treatment, but saw an opportunity to start selling drugs,” Said Dr. Wairimu Mbogo a pharmacist and head of commercial and operations at Meraky Healthcare Limited.

“Patients have realized that the medicines in India are cheaper so some of them use those with connections there to procure the drugs for them,” added Dr. Mbogo.

Dr. Mbogo warned about the business saying that it is being carried out on illegal grounds and they may be unsafe for the patients.

The law requires that a person who wishes to import drugs into the country should be licensed. Thus, the ones procured through back door could probably be poorly prescribed and handled.

The importers usually don’t disclose the contents of the briefcases they carry, increasing the probability of the drugs being contaminated in terms of transportation and storage.

An importer must declare to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, their suppliers, location and the contents of each of the imported medicinal substance.

The parallel importers have the responsibility of ensuring proper handling, quality, safety and security of the imported drugs.

Failure to disclose the contents of the imported drug have led to the exposure of the drugs to possible contamination and unfavorable temperature conditions which affects the efficiency o the drugs.

Dr. Wairimu argues that instead of putting the drugs in suitcases, they should use the logistics provider to bring the medicines into the country, with the assurance of free from contamination or temperature changes.

There is an estimated number of about 40,000 new cases reported annually and approximately 28,000 cancer-related deaths every year.

Most countries, enclosed in the low-income brackets have had the biggest problem when dealing with cancer due to the low level of awareness, improper diagnosis, late discovery and exposure to treatment and the high cost associated with drugs and treat the cancer disease.