Almost 674,000 dosage units of illegal medicines were detained by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) last year, according to its Annual Report 2016.

The illegal products detained included sedatives, anabolic steroids and medicines for erectile dysfunction. Sedatives accounted for almost half of all detained products.

The authority also initiated over 4,000 enforcement cases last year. These are cases taken in relation to the illegal supply, manufacture or advertising of health products.

Meanwhile, 471 cosmetic products were sent for laboratory testing during 2016, with 11% of these found to be non-compliant. The most common cases of non-compliance included the contamination of talcum powders and face paints.

Other activities carried out by the HPRA last year included:
-The authorisation of 637 new human medicines
-The individual assessment and follow-up of 3,264 adverse reaction reports in relation to human medicines
-Some 108 clinical trials of human medicines were approved to commence.

Last year also saw 209 medicine recalls - 201 of which related to human medicines, while the remaining eight related to veterinary medicine products.

"During 2016, the HPRA witnessed a number of milestones in our continued development as the national health products regulator. We launched our Innovation Office to support academia and entrepreneurs in the development of novel health products, we carried out our first ever public information campaign which urges members of the public to take medicines safely and we marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Drugs Advisory Board, the precursor to the HPRA today," commented HPRA chief executive, Dr Lorraine Nolan.

The Annual Report 2016 can be viewed here