Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Health Reporter
THE Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has extended the shelf-life of Pyridoxine — a drug used to treat Vitamin B deficiency resulting from poor diet, certain medications and some nerve disorders by six months.
According to the authority, the available batches of the drug which expired in August and September have passed all laboratory tests and are safe for use.
The batches of the 25mg drug include EPE1806A, EPE1803A, EPE1804A, EPE1805A which expired in August this year.
Part of the expired batch whose shelf life has been extended include the EPE1807A and the EPE1808A batch which expired in September 2020.
Medical authorities can extend shelf life of expired medication after a series of laboratory tests and according to experts such extensions do not have a bearing on the quality or effectiveness of the drug.
MCAZ director of curative services Dr Max Hove said the laboratory tests on the drugs were conducted following a request by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
All the Pyridoxine drugs which expired in August and September were declared safe to use up to March next year.
In a letter to provincial medical directors, chief executive officers of central hospitals, directors of health services at council run health institutions and those in the security service, Dr Hover urged the institutions to even consider distributing the batches to high consuming sites within the provinces.
“The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has extended the shelf-life of various batches of Pyridoxine by five months up to March, 2021 following a request from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC). MCAZ conducted laboratory tests of specified batches and they passed all the tests,” said Dr Hove.
“Please prioritise the stated batches in the dispensing at health facilities and redistribute these to high consuming sites within your provinces or districts.” — @thamamoe
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