The Department of State for Health and Social Welfare over the weekend embarked on a joint operation with personnel of National Drug Enforcement Agency and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to crack down on illegal pharmacies within the Greater Banjul Area.

The purpose of the operation was to check on license validity, expired drugs and mode of operations in accordance with the standards laid down by the Medicines Board.

During the course of the operation, the team discovered a series of abnormalities among private pharmacy operators. Among them included operating without a valid license, license forgery and employing unqualified personnel to run pharmacies, while in some, expired drugs were found.

As a result, defaulting pharmacies were immediately shut down while the expired drugs and drugs found in pharmacies operating without valid license were all confiscated and taken to central medical stores for further screening. The owners found wanting were all summoned to the Department of State for Health.

Speaking after the operation, the chief pharmacist DoSH, Dr. Mariatou Talla Jallow, commended the team for what she described as a good job, noting that such an exercise is indeed necessary. She therefore urged pharmacy operators to live up to expectation and warned illegal operators and anyone not operating according to the standards set, saying that anyone found wanting would be dealt with according to the law.