By Asha Elmi - Reporter
SOMALIA, Aug. 16, 2026 — Somaliland’s Quality Control Agency has suspended the sale and distribution of medicines produced by YENISOM Healthcare, saying the Mogadishu-manufactured products had not undergone required quality-control and testing procedures upon entering Somaliland.
Asma Abdi Jama, director of the agency’s medicines quality-assurance department, said on Saturday that the decision was taken under the agency’s legal mandate to oversee the quality and safety of medicines.
“The sale and distribution of medicines produced by YENISOM, which are manufactured in Mogadishu, Somalia, have been completely suspended,” Asma said.
The agency instructed medicine importers, traders and other businesses dealing in pharmaceutical products to stop selling or distributing YENISOM medicines.
Asma said the suspension was imposed because the products had not undergone the quality-control and testing procedures required by the agency for medicines entering Somaliland.
“These medicines were suspended because they had not undergone the quality-control and testing procedures required by the Quality Control Agency when they enter the country,” she said.
The agency said it would coordinate with local authorities to remove the medicines from the market as quickly as possible and urged members of the public not to purchase or use the products.
Related articles
“We are informing the public not to buy or use these medicines,” Asma said.
The agency also warned that importers, traders or other businesses that failed to comply with the suspension could face legal action.
“Anyone who fails to comply with this order will face action in accordance with the law,” she said.
YENISOM Healthcare says on its website that it is a pharmaceutical manufacturer based on Tarbuunka Road in Mogadishu’s Hodan district. The company says it was established on Feb. 28, 2022, and produces a range of pharmaceutical products, including tablets, capsules, syrups and injectable medicines.
Its website lists products including Cefixime 400mg, Metformin 500mg, Folic Acid 5mg, Amlotan-D and Lansogas 40mg, among others.
YENISOM describes itself as a pharmaceutical manufacturer serving Somalia and East African markets and says its manufacturing operations follow quality standards. Those statements are company claims and do not independently establish the regulatory status of its products in Somaliland.
The Somaliland Quality Control Agency did not say that YENISOM medicines had been found to be unsafe or harmful. It said the suspension was imposed because the products had not undergone its required quality-control and testing procedures upon entering Somaliland.