The Egyptian Drug Authority, in coordination with various regulatory and security authorities, has carried out periodic and surprise inspection campaigns on warehouses and pharmaceutical distribution companies since the beginning of 2024 until now; to ensure the application of good storage standards, the availability of the necessary health requirements, reviewing the supply and supply chain, invoices and documents, applying fair distribution policies for medicines by selling and pharmacist profit margin, complying with regulatory decisions and regulations, and ensuring the effective availability of medicines, especially strategic medicine items, at the compulsory price and the regularity of supply and sale operations to pharmacies until reaching the patient.
The number of visits during the period since the beginning of 2024 amounted to 2500 inspection visits within the campaigns that resulted in 8% violations between the seizure of smuggled medicines, or not registered with the Egyptian Drug Authority, reports of the absence of the responsible pharmacist manager or his representative, violation of the decision regulating the pharmacist's profit margin, and non-conformity of invoices.
The campaigns resulted in the seizure of smuggled, adulterated and unregistered medicines, with an estimated financial value of about 3 million pounds, and all legal procedures were taken, and the necessary reports were written to present to the competent prosecution, in addition to issuing 13 administrative closure decisions for the violating warehouses and seizing 50 unlicensed places, since the beginning of 2024.
In parallel with the inspection campaigns, random samples of pharmaceuticals were randomly withdrawn for analysis at EDA laboratories to ensure their conformity with the specifications, review storage requirements, and review the procedures taken to withdraw medicines issued by EDA to stop circulation and seizure, in addition to periodically updating the database of pharmaceutical stores and distribution companies on the official EDA website, through which the license data of pharmaceutical stores and companies can be verified, and periodic updates of administrative closure decisions issued to violating pharmaceutical stores, in addition to publishing regulatory manuals for pharmaceutical stores.
This comes within the framework of the EDA's efforts to control the pharmaceutical market, maintain the quality, effectiveness, and safety of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies circulating in pharmaceutical institutions, as well as follow up on storage places."