NDA warns against 'magnetic' sanitary pads

By Carol Natukunda and Raymond Baguma

The National Drug Authority (NDA) has refuted claims that it does not have the capacity to test sanitary towels on the market and warned against deceitful advertising by dealers.

At a press conference, officials of Longrich East Africa, a marketing company behind the controversial “magnetic” sanitary towels, said NDA lacked capacity to test the properties in their products.

“We made a request to NDA to independently verify our products, but we were told that NDA does not test sanitary towels, as they are not drugs,” said Francis Muhwezi, a director with Longrich East Africa.

However, the NDA director, Gordon Sematiko, said: “We tested them, but not for the claims they are making to the public. And that is our contention. What we hear on radio is not what we know them to be.”

Longrich has been aggressively running adverts on radio claiming that the ‘magnetic’ pads solve a number of menstrual problems including cramps and skin irritation. The China-manufactured sanitary towels are sold under the brand name SuperbKlean “Magnetic Energy”

On capacity, Sematiko said: “We have the capacity to test the sanitary towels and their properties. Even if it were something beyond us, we can outsource anywhere in the world for facilities to test them.”

The NDA spokesperson Frederick Ssekyana also explained that as a regulatory body, they were mandated by the Government to ensure all drugs and other pharmaceutical and healthcare products meet the required standards.

“We are part of the global pharmaceutical body and we are constantly in touch with the rest to ensure we have up to date facilities to do our work,” said Ssekyana.

Ssekyana also said any drug or healthcare outlet must be licensed by the authority.

“For anybody to market the healthcare products, you have to get permission from NDA. We have to know what message you are putting across, so we keep our people safe and avoid fleecing them through dishonest advertising,” said Ssekyana.

A New Vision story on Monday revealed that laboratory tests by Uganda National Bureau of Standards established that the towels have no magnetism. According to the results, the towels do not meet the labelling and instructions on disposal after use.