Activist sues NDA, says the deaf did not grasp warning over defective Life Guard condoms

Ambrose Mulangira, a deaf activist and two other rights centered organizations have filed a court petition suing the National Drug Authority (NDA) and Marie Stopes Uganda at the high court for negligence.

In November 2019, the NDA ordered Marie Stopes Uganda to recall about four million Life Guard condoms from the Ugandan market because they did not meet market standards.

The message, according to Mulangira was however not designed for deaf persons who largely depend on sign language for information and as such did not understand this life-saving information.

In a press conference held at Hotel Triangle on Wednesday afternoon, Mulangira, who is also a deaf and addressed the press through a sign interpreter, said that they now want Marie Stopes and the NDA to compensate the deaf who contracted Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) because they were not catered for in the communication.

“In this suit, we want people to know and understand that the deaf have a right to good health and information and there should be a compensation out of such negligence,” Mulangira said.

Two patients who only talked to the media on the basis of anonymity joined Mulangira. These said that they had contracted STIs after using Life Guard Condoms between the time the communication had been passed.

“I used a defaulted Life Guard condom and got an STI. I wont go into details of that because the documents that attest to this are now before court and lawyers have advised us not to reveal court documents,” one of the deaf was being assisted by a sign interpreter said.

Mulangira partnered with Enforcement of Patients and Health Workers Rights (EPHWOR), an NGO that fights for rights of patients.

While addressing the media, Paul Asaba the head of litigation at EPHWOR urged government to put in place measures that will safeguard patients’ rights in the country.

Mugabi Ronnie, one of the 10 lawyers behind the suit said that there is an implied contract that a supplier of drugs owes to the users that such drugs are safe for use, which was not respected by Marie Stopes.

“They were supposed to do all it takes to follow the law and this makes them liable to the consumers because of this duty. We have 8 complainants and we want Marie Stopes to take care of them,” Mugabi said.