Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – Health Minister Dr. Amadou Samateh has admitted before the National Assembly that expired medicines were administered to patients at two major public hospitals—Kanifing General Hospital and Bansang General Hospital (two public health facilities)—raising fresh questions about accountability and public safety in The Gambia’s healthcare system.
The revelation emerged during a heated session on Wednesday when lawmakers scrutinized the 2020 FPAC audit report, adopted by the plenary in July 2025.
The report flagged disturbing lapses in the handling of expired drugs at the Central Medical Stores, including poor disposal practices, missing inventories, and, most alarmingly, the issuance of expired medicines to patients.
Pressed by Hon. Omar Jammeh of Janjangbureh, who first raised the matter, Dr. Samateh confirmed that “to the best of my knowledge, there were indeed some items that had gone beyond their shelf life, and auditors found they were used” at the two public hospitals.
Yet, despite the gravity of the findings, the minister repeatedly downplayed their scope, describing the cases as “isolated” and the quantities as “not huge.”
He stressed that the country’s health system remained safe, a reassurance that did little to calm MPs who questioned whether such incidents were confined to only the two hospitals flagged in the audit.
Hon. Yahya Sanyang, Member for Latrikunda, directly challenged the minister: “How sure are we these were the only hospitals affected?” Dr. Samateh replied that only Kanifing and Bansang were named in the report but promised to “pursue the matter further” to identify officials involved.
However, when asked what punitive measures had been taken, the minister conceded that those responsible had merely been reprimanded and “educated” on the potential dangers of administering expired medicines. His response drew murmurs across the chamber, with several MPs questioning whether reprimands were sufficient where public safety was at stake.
Dr. Samateh defended his ministry’s approach, arguing that although medical literature sometimes debates whether a drug expiring today could still be effective tomorrow, “for the safe side, in The Gambia, we stop using it once it reaches the expiry date.” He also revealed that the expired medicines in question were “not frequently used” and that new safeguards had been introduced to prevent recurrence.
He outlined procedures requiring the removal of medicines from shelves three months before expiry, their storage in isolation, and destruction under the supervision of the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA). “Expired pharmaceuticals are to be neither issued nor dispensed to patients,” he reiterated.
Despite these assurances, the episode has exposed troubling lapses in oversight at two of the country’s main public hospitals and a response that many lawmakers see as inadequate.
With only reprimands issued and no disciplinary action or prosecutions announced, the case has sparked broader concerns about the culture of impunity and light-touch accountability within the health sector—especially when lives are at risk.
