ACTIONAid Zambia country director Nalucha Ziba has called on the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supply Agency (ZMMSA) board to review its decision to send management on forced leave and ensure they follow laid down disciplinary procedures.

In an interview, Ziba said the decision might have been done outside the confines of the law.

“ActionAid Zambia has noted the decision by the Board of the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supply Agency (ZMMSA) to suspend the management of the agency, and subsequently appoint an interim Director General. As an organization, we are on record, having stated that ‘the supply of defective medicines is a crime against Humanity as it deals with the lives of many citizens, and thus it must be treated as such, a crime.’ The Ministry of Health, and the ZMMSA have a responsibility to ensure that they supply standard medication in the execution of their mandate, the failure to do so should result in legal action that goes beyond mere suspensions,” Ziba said.

“As an organization, we are alive to the fact that the Board’s decision to suspend the management may have been done outside the confines of the law as the ZMMSA Act does not provide for this, except in relation to the Director General. As ActionAid, we therefore call upon the Board of the ZMMSA to review the decision to suspend management and ensure they follow laid down disciplinary procedures in dealing with this matter.”

She urged the Ministry of Health to refrain from being reactive in ensuring that the highest quality standards were exercised in the supply and handling of medicines.

“We also call upon the Ministry of Health to take a more proactive approach and refrain from being reactive in ensuring that the highest quality standards are exercised in the supply and handling of medicines as this relates directly to the lives of the people. There is nothing that justifies the supply of medicine that could pose a risk to the lives of the people, and thus there must be a general practice with those responsible with dealing with medicines in order to avoid occurrences of such a manner,” said Ziba.