The National Drug Authority (NDA) has clarified reports regarding contamination of animal products and feeds with ARVs.
In a press release issued on September 7, 2023, the NDA stated that the matter was not made public for fear of raising alarm and impacting Uganda’s economic earnings from animal exports abroad.
“NDA has learned with concern about the incomplete media reporting that it knew about the use of ARVs in livestock, but the matter was not made public for fear of raising alarm and impacting Uganda’s economic earnings from animal exports abroad,” NDA stated.
The NDA continued to clarify that it’s mandated to regulate drugs and not food and animal feeds.
“We learned of the recent studies relating to the contamination of animal feeds and animal products like chicken and pork from media publications,” read the notice.
According to the NDA, since such reports concern the misuse of drugs, it conducted investigations, and a scientific review determined that the reported levels were too low to cause unnecessary public alarm.
The NDA further undertook several interventions, including enforcement of operations to curb the sources of the ARVs and other drugs being misused in animals.
The NDA stated that the ongoing operations have led to several arrests and prosecutions of the culprits and that the circulating media reports are therefore incomplete and out of context. The NDA remains vigilantly committed to ensuring that Ugandans have access to safe, efficacious, and quality medicines.
