Harare — UNLICENSED drug dealers are flooding the market with a variety of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) that could do more harm than good, the country's medicines regulatory body has warned.

The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) said this week that individual drug importers had flooded the local market with ARVs, which they are selling from unlicensed locations such as flea markets and hair salons.

MCAZ fears the drugs could expose the public to health hazards as counterfeit medicines usually cause drug resistance.

"This is a dangerous practice because the medicines may have been subjected to inappropriate and hazardous storage conditions, thus affecting the quality and effectiveness of the medicine. Such medicines may be counterfeited, adulterated and contaminated, thus rendering them ineffective and sometimes dangerous."

Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said his Ministry was fighting to stamp out the unauthorised drugs market, estimated to be worth billions.

"We are aware that people may want to make capital out of it (trade) especially in light of the HIV and AIDS pandemic," he said. "We have invited various other players such as SAfAIDS to evaluate the problem," he added.

Medical experts say the collapse of the government health system has created a vacuum in which a parallel market for drugs has thrived.

They warned that un-prescribed ARVs would result in drug resistance.

Sixty-two thousand HIV-positive people are on the government's treatment programme, but this figure is expected to double by the end of this year. Altogether, 700 000 Zimbabweans are estimated to be in need of treatment urgently.

Zimbabwe has managed to reduce the prevalence rate - making it one of the few bright spots on the continent on AIDS - but experts fear ground will be lost to the effects of the economic crisis.

The economic decline means government is unable to import enough drugs to put more people on treatment, and has also left the country short of medical equipment and experienced personnel.

Health professionals say the massive circulation of illegal medication reflects serious shortcomings in the control of the manufacture and importation of drugs.

Most of the ARVs sold on the parallel market are reportedly smuggled from neighbouring countries, where they are readily available and cheaper. Employees steal other drugs from pharmaceutical shops.

According to HIV and Aids lobby groups, at least 3 000 people die weekly from HIV and Aids-related illness.