MALI: IRIN Focus on efforts to curb the vending of medicines

From painkillers to antibiotics, just about any medicinal drug can be had on the streets of Mali’s towns and villages. Chances are the vendors know absolutely nothing about the chemicals from which the pills are made, or about potential side effects since none are pharmacists nor do they have any licenses to sell drugs. Yet, they and their counterparts elsewhere in West Africa administer a large percentage - estimates range from 30 to 60 percent - of the drugs sold in the subregion.