The MCA wishes to express its disappointment and dissatisfaction on the unethical and unprofessional conduct of the Giss Giss show Friday, 17 May 2024 in which the program panel members including Ismail Badjie of Innovarx Global Health (IGH) spread misinformation and false allegations against MCA and its officials. It is certainly unprofessional and unethical of Ansu Jack to use his platform due to his relationship with Ismail Badjie to attempt to tarnish the image of a government institution and its officials through the use of ill-informed premedicated questions. Since its inception, MCA has been contacted and gladly provided information or clarifications to many media houses and platforms on several issues. MCA would like to put on record that it has never been contacted by the Giss Giss show for any information or clarification on any matter but instead the show has been conducting biased programs against MCA with biased and conflicted panelists.
During the Giss Giss show on Friday, 17 May 2024, one of the panelists requested for MCA to be invited but Ansu Jack, the host of the program remarked that MCA would not appear as they do not like participating in such programs but he failed woefully to state the fact that MCA was not even invited by him to any program as such. This statement of his is false and malicious as MCA is ever ready to talk to any media when contacted or invited. MCA would like to encourage the media to reach out to us for any information or clarification concerning MCA instead of publishing/airing one-sided stories which is misleading the audiences.
The medicines of Innovarx Global Health are not granted import clearance permit by MCA because IGH refused to comply with the laws of The Gambia by either listing or registering their medicines. They claimed the laws do not apply to their own medicines as they are approved by FDA USA.
Due to the abnormal way IGH imported their medicines as personal baggage (suitcase importation), it is impossible for IGH to initially provide the required product details (batch number, expiry dates and the manufacturer’s details) and as a result MCA had to grant them access to the products at the airport to open all the medicine boxes in the presence of an MCA inspector for them to get the necessary product details for import clearance permit application. It is false that MCA told Ismail Badjie he cannot tell people he can help them; IGH has been involved in illegal advertisement of its medicines without approval from MCA as required by the law.
It is important to clarify to the public that MCA reopened Innovarx Global Health in February 2024 only after it paid one hundred thousand dalasis (D100,000) fine due to illegal importation of their medicines and other contraventions of the law. This was contrary to the misinformation by Ismail Badjie during the Giss Giss show that MCA reopened Innovarx Global Health due to public pressure. The expired drugs seized in Innovarx Global Health in February 2024 were found on the shelves in their dispensary where they do repackaging, contrary to the false claims on Giss Giss.
MCA would like to state that no amount of media campaign and self-aggrandizement by Ismail Badjie of Innovarx Global Health or any other person will stop MCA from carrying out its lawful mandate.
Signed
Ag. Executive Director
Medicines Control Agency
