Published: September 30, 2026
By Roseline Gbessagee
MONROVIA — The Liberia Pharmacy Board (LPB) has warned that pharmacies and medicine stores caught administering injections and drips, conducting deliveries or treating accident victims and wounds will be immediately shut down and have their operating licenses suspended as regulators intensify efforts against illegal pharmaceutical practices.
LPB Chief Executive Officer Dr. Menmon P. Z. Dunah issued the warning Tuesday, Sept. 29, during the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing, stressing that such medical procedures are restricted to health facilities and cannot legally be performed at pharmacies or medicine stores.
The Board is also urging Liberians to become “watchdogs” in their communities by reporting suspected illegal pharmaceutical activities, including unauthorized medical services and the sale or misuse of counterfeit medicines.
“We want to encourage the public to report suspected illegal pharmaceutical activities in the community. If you find in a community that a medicine store or pharmacy is giving injections, administering drips, conducting deliveries, or providing care for accident wounds and wound management, these are illegal practices that are not allowed to be carried out in pharmacies and medicine stores. They are for health facilities only,” Dunah said.
He said establishments found violating the restriction risk immediate closure and suspension of their licenses.
Dunah also warned Liberians against purchasing medicines from street vendors, black-market dealers and other unauthorized sellers, urging consumers to patronize licensed pharmaceutical establishments.
“Stop buying medicine from street vendors, street sellers, black-market sellers, and other community illegal selling areas and medicine stores,” he said.
Despite its regulatory efforts, Dunah said the Pharmacy Board continues to face significant operational challenges, including inadequate financing, limited transportation and field logistics, insufficient equipment, human resource constraints and limited regional presence.
He said those challenges have become increasingly significant as the number of pharmaceutical establishments requiring regulation continues to expand across Liberia.
Dunah also cited delays in fully implementing the Board’s decentralization plan, which seeks to establish three additional regional hubs — in Grand Gedeh County for the southeast, Lofa County for the northwest and Grand Cape Mount County for the western region.
He said decentralizing pharmaceutical regulation is critical to protecting public health and supports the government’s ARREST Agenda by extending effective oversight beyond Monrovia.
“The bottom line is, community pharmacies expand access to pharmaceutical services and care, while decentralization expands access to pharmaceutical regulation and oversight,” Dunah said.
The LPB is also seeking government support for the establishment of the Liberia Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, which Dunah said would create opportunities for pharmacists to receive specialized residency training in Liberia.
“When this postgraduate college is fully established with appropriate budgetary support, it will create opportunities for Liberian pharmacists to specialize through residency training and thereby build their capacity to serve the country,” he said.
The Board reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with the government, Ministry of Health, development partners, media, civil society and the public to strengthen pharmaceutical regulation and improve access to quality services nationwide.
“A stronger pharmaceutical regulatory system is the foundation for a stronger health system,” Dunah said.
Discussion about this post