The Namibian Medicine Regulatory Council has warned the public from importing, advertising, distributing and prescribing unlicensed medicine on social media.
The council says it has observed an increase in the sale of unauthorised GLP-1 and peptide-containing medicine marketed for weight loss and diabetes on social media recently.
“Medicines that are not registered with the Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council, or otherwise lawfully authorised under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, may not be imported, manufactured, distributed, sold, advertised or supplied in Namibia,” registrar of medicine Frieda Shigwedha said in a statement released on Thursday.
The council warns healthcare establishments to stop procuring, importing and prescribing medicine not registered under the council.
In addition to removing promotional material relating to unregistered products from websites and social media platforms, the council advises the public to only purchase medicine from licensed pharmacies and authorised healthcare facilities and avoid buying through social media.
Shigwedha says the public should consult a health professional before using weight loss medication.
“International regulators have documented serious adverse events associated with unregistered and counterfeit GLP-1 medicines, including dosing errors, contamination and hospitalisation,” she says.
She says some GLP-1 and peptide-containing products promoted for weight loss may still be undergoing clinical investigation, may not yet be authorised for the indications for which they are being marketed or may be intended solely for research purposes.
“Such products should not be supplied or promoted outside the legal framework governing clinical trials and regulatory authorisation,” says Shigwedha.
The council says advertising of medicine is regulated under the medicine and related substance control act.
