Sudan Government must re-establish drug quality control

May 21, 2007 — The Sudan Human Rights Organization Cairo Office received grievous reports on the situation of drugs quality control and the quality of drugs circulating in the Sudanese pharmaceutical market in the present time.

Expert reports issued by Sudanese national laboratories, pharmacists, physicians, medicinal researchers, as well as regional drug authorities have seriously advised the Government of Sudan to take all necessary measures to ensure the good health of citizens, in accordance with drug quality control testing by the National Drug Quality Control Laboratory at Khartoum.

Apparently, the State-incited wars in almost all regions of the country have created a dire need for drug, especially in the war-affected areas “without waiting for proper test results” on the suitability of drug, stated a most recent research assessing the pharmaceutical supply system in Sudan (Faroug El Tayeb Ahmed, 2006). Another research published by the Sudanese Journal of Public Health (April 2006) on anti-malarial drug products indicates significant problems of substandard products in all states.

The Department of Drug Affairs of the Federal Ministry of Health has repeatedly disapproved the circulation of several drugs produced by private drug companies. Recently, in the year 2006, the Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries – U.A.E., being unlawfully registered, thus loosely inspected, failed to satisfy the quality standards of the Ministry.

Several official documents most recently received by the Organization revealed that Julphar has been circulating a variety of drugs short of the required pharmaceutical standards all over the Sudan, including Dextromethorphan HBr, Multivitamin, Promethazine HCI, Sodium Valporate, and Ibuprofen etc., in gross violation of the National Laboratory and the Department of Drug Affairs.

Despite the official invalidation of Julphar drug, the Federal Minister of Health nullified the decisions of the national laboratory and the ministry’s specialized department by Administrative Order No. 22 dated November 4, 2006, based on recommendations by “an ad hoc inspection committee” versus the regular technical supervisory bodies of the Ministry.

SHRO-Cairo is gravely concerned that pharmacist Yasir Merghani ‘Abd al-Rahman has been subjected by the Department of State Security to harassment, including detention and trial, for his open criticisms of the ministry’s unlawful drug policy, which jeopardizes the health of citizens and perpetuates deteriorating health conditions of the country, especially in the war-affected areas.

SHRO asks the Federal Minister of Health to correct decisions recently applied on the Julphar products, as well as all other similar cases, by full adherence to expert tests firmly approved by the National Laboratory and the Department of Drugs.

The Organization condemns in the strongest terms possible the irresponsible conduct of the State Security Department and other related groups that harassed unlawfully Yasir Merghani in gross violation to the right of pharmacists, as well as all other concerned parties, to criticize drug policies, suggest appropriate methods to ensure the public health, and convey full information to people via all means of communication, without curtailment.