Firm was flagged for importing substandard COVID-19 test kits

The Ministry of Health in Jamaica has decided to cancel the import licence of an Indian firm after it was flagged by the World Health Organization (WHO) for substandard COVID-19 testing kits.

The disclosure, which was made by Cynthia Lewis-Graham, the health ministry’s director of the Health Standard and Regulation Division, who has already contacted the firm, SD Biosensor Healthcare Private Limited, on the matter.

It has been reported that SD Biosensor Healthcare Private Limited, which is the Indian subsidiary of SD Biosensor Inc. South Korea, was asked by Jamaica to hold the supplies of COVID-19 test kits, after the WHO released its report on the matter of the substandard test kits.

Jamaica cited as one of two countries that imported the substandard test kits

However, Lewis-Graham’s response has come two months after the WHO report was released. She has reportedly given the assurance that ensuing action has already been taken against the issuing of import permits for products from the Indian manufacturing site.

Last month, the WHO listed Jamaica as one of the two countries that imported substandard COVID-19 kits in the region. The Health Standard and Regulation Division has disclosed that 100,000 test kits not approved by the WHO or the United States Food and Drug Administration were imported, violating Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Act.

These unregulated tests, manufactured in India, are being sold at a price much lower than the average for this type of product. The Bahamas and Jamaica were named as two countries where the product was being used.