The health authorities in Mozambique are now using technology to quickly verify the authenticity and quality of medicines at the border posts where drugs enter the country.

These are portable devices that will provide simple, fast and inexpensive screening conditions and mechanisms to identify low-quality and counterfeit medicines circulating in the national market, according to Tânia Sitoe, president of Mozambique's Medicines Regulatory Authority (ANARME).

The five devices presented are valued at 150,000 and the government expects to receive three more by the end of the year.

The electronic devices provide the results of drug tests in a few seconds and their maintenance is at no cost to the country, the authorities assured.

"The manufacturer, from any point, can access the system and do the maintenance, there is no cost to the country," stressed Tânia Sitoe.

According to recent data, about five percent of the medicines that enter Mozambique are counterfeit and of low quality, a problem that the Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, considers global and that "can only be combated through the involvement of everyone, from manufacturers, regulatory authorities, police, health professionals, customs, magistrates, and consumers.

According to Health authorities, antibiotics, sexual stimulants, and drugs used in the treatment of covid-19 are among the most falsified in Mozambique.