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Marie Stopes ordered to recall Life Guard condoms in Uganda

Condoms: Marie Stopes is the sole distributors of the condoms in Uganda. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Marie Stopes is the sole distributors of the condoms in Uganda.
  • National Drug Authority says the condoms have “holes and burst properties".

Marie Stopes, a non-governmental organisation that offers reproductive health services, has been directed to recall two batches of Life Guard brand condoms from the Ugandan market following user complaints.

Marie Stopes is the sole distributors of the condoms in Uganda.

According to a letter issued by the National Drug Authority (NDA), the condoms from batches number 19040205 and 19050105 manufactured in April and May this year, with expiry dates for March and April 2024 respectively, do not meet the standards.

Ms Victoria Nambasa, the product safety officer at NDA says the condoms were not free from “holes and burst properties”.

It is estimated that over four million condoms do not meet the quality standards.

ENFORCEMENT

Marie Stopes was given a two-week ultimatum to submit a recall status report indicating the details of distribution and the clients that had been notified in the directive dated October 30, 2019.

Mr Fred Ssekyana, the Public Relations Officer of the NDA, says that they have teams in the field to ensure that the directive is enforced.

"The process is on and we are working with the distributors of the condoms to make sure that the affected batches are off the market," Mr Ssekyana said.

Mr Sam Lemi, from Marie Stopes says they have begun the recall process and it should be complete soon.

"We started the process and expect it to be completed soon. We are investigating what could have gone wrong," Mr Lemi said.  

According to data from the Ministry of Health, an estimated 800 million condoms are needed to protect Ugandans from unplanned pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

-Reporting by URN