Tanzanian drug trade liberalization warning

Drugs are a vital element in ensuring community health but, as a resultof trade liberalization, they are "being sold like sweets," according to the president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Tanzania, Romuald Mbwasi.

Dr Mbwasi said that medicines were most vulnerable to the liberalization policies, as anyone with sufficient money could start up a pharmacy. In many cases, pharmacies were being started up as "part two" drugstores, selling over-the-counter products only, "where basic knowledge about drugs is not an issue," he said.

Dr Mbwasi warned that the incorrect, improper use of drugs had long-term national implications, because it could not only cost the lives of future generations but also result in huge financial losses to the state. Consumers would build up resistance to simple drugs and then be forced to buy more expensive ones, he said.