Uganda: clarity on authority to license drug shops
Uganda’s Ministry of Health has directed the Allied Health Professionals Council (AHPC) to immediately stop licensing drug shops, reaffirming that regulatory authority over medicines and drug outlets rests exclusively with the National Drug Authority (NDA). The directive follows an ongoing jurisdictional dispute in which AHPC had begun registering and licensing drug shops operated by dispensers under its interpretation of its statutory mandate, while the NDA maintained that such activity is unlawful and outside AHPC’s legal scope. The Ministry’s letter emphasizes that AHPC is responsible for regulating health professionals rather than facilities or medicines, and instructs that any allied health professional wishing to operate a drug shop must first obtain NDA approval, including inspection and certification of premises. The decision effectively consolidates oversight of drug shop licensing under the NDA and seeks to resolve conflicting interpretations of regulatory authority within Uganda’s pharmaceutical and allied health governance framework.