The wise bird has been flying the length and breadth of the country in order to get firsthand information about the operations of the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone which is responsible for the regulation of pharmacies and monitoring of all drugs coming into the country.

The decision to went round came as a result of the observation that sales of contraband and expired drugs is on the increase, thus, causing serious health risks to the unsuspecting public.

During his tour, Bra Parrot made several observations that are nothing to write home about. First of all, he observed with dismay that the Board is completely not in control of the situation as pharmacies across the country are operating freely without the least monitoring.

What is more disturbing is the fact that about 95% of these pharmacies lack trained and qualified pharmacists who cannot diagnose common sickness less to talk of prescribing the right drug for the right sickness.

They can best be described as quack pharmacists/doctors.

They used to sell wrong drugs to sick people knowing fully that they are fake which is causing additional problem for the sick.

The other observation was that most of the pharmacies are in the habit of removing expiry dates from drugs and place new production labels on them thus jeopardizing the lives of the people.

This ugly situation has continued for a very long time and the bird has been reliably informed that some workers at the Pharmacy Board are in connivance with pharmacy owners to defraud the people of this nation.

Considering its responsibilities as a regulatory and monitoring body the Pharmacy Board should realize that its role is critical in protecting the lives of people in this country, particularly the mass illiterate and those who cannot afford high medical bills in public or private hospitals.

By all indications, the Board is far from doing what is expected of them.

Having made all these observations about the Pharmacy Board operations, the bird went out as usual to get the views of the general public.

All those he came in contact with expressed little or no respect for the Board, claiming that it’s not doing its work to protect the lives of especially the common people, insisting that it doesn’t worth its existence.

The sale of fake or contraband drugs is an unfortunate situation; the people argued but blamed it to the lack of supervision by the Pharmacy Board and the very Ministry of Health and Sanitation.

These bodies should realize that sound minds operate only in sound body, in essence, health is wealth.

So it’s time for the concerned authorities to act now without further delay.

The bird will continue to monitor the Pharmacy Board on its activities.