By KETRA KALUNGA
INVESTIGATIONS into the supply of defective Cetiva tablets (Vitamin C) by Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia are still active, the Zambia Medicines regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has said.ZAMRA was monitoring and following up with the ongoing recall of the drug.
Early this year, the supplier, Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia issued a voluntary recall of the product bearing batch numbers 0371572 and 0372251, citing some change of colour in some tablets to brown.
ZAMRA senior public relations officer, Christabel Illiamupu, said in an interview that Shalina Pharmaceuticals was instructed to establish what could have led to the change in colour in the Cetiva tables.
Ms Illiamupu said the investigations were ongoing and ZAMRA was in constant touch with the supplier in order to establish what could have led to the change in colour of the product.
“We are yet to know what could have led to that because it could be that when they placed the product on the market, it was just okay,” she said.
And Ms Iliamupu explained a recall of a product did not necessarily mean that the product failed to meet the three elements of quality, safety and efficacy.
This was because, while on the market, there were factors like heat and moisture that might affect its efficiency.
“We need to understand what a recall is, we need to understand that when we recall a product, it does not mean that a product was placed in the market in bad faith, so when products go on the market there are factors like hit, moisture, those affect issues of efficiency,” she said.
