The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has dismissed claims that 90 per cent of pharmacies in Nairobi are selling illegal drugs, insisting the reports have misrepresented a recent study and unnecessarily alarmed Kenyans.
The regulator was responding to widespread reports based on a research paper that claimed most pharmacies in the capital were stocking unregistered medicines.
However, PPB maintained that the findings had been taken out of context, clarifying that the medicines cited in the study were not counterfeit, substandard or harmful to patients.
“The headline creates the impression that the medicinal products assessed were illegal, substandard, falsified or unsafe for patient use. This does not accurately reflect the findings of the study,” PPB Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Mohamed said.
According to the Board, the study relied on data collected between September 2023 and October 2024 and therefore does not reflect the current regulatory environment.
PPB explained that the medicines in question entered the country legally through Kenya’s parallel importation framework, a system that allows approved medicines manufactured by the original pharmaceutical companies to be imported from different markets under strict regulatory oversight.
“The medicinal products assessed in the study were approved under the country’s legal framework for parallel importation and were not found to be substandard, falsified or unsafe for patient use,” Ahmed added.
The Board further revealed that it has since tightened regulation in the pharmaceutical sector and stopped approving new applications for parallel-imported medicines from October 2025 as part of wider reforms aimed at strengthening oversight of the country’s drug market.
The clarification comes at a time when concerns over the safety of medicines continue to grow, with authorities intensifying crackdowns on unlicensed pharmacies and counterfeit drugs across the country.
PPB urged members of the public not to panic over the reports, saying Kenya’s drug regulatory system remains robust and that any concerns regarding the safety or authenticity of medicines should be reported to the Board for investigation instead of relying on misleading information circulating online.
The regulator reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding public health, saying it will continue monitoring the pharmaceutical market to ensure only safe, quality and effective medicines reach Kenyan patients.