How to Check a Herbal Medicine With NDA in Uganda

Who regulates herbal medicine?

For decades the National Drug Authority (NDA) regulated medicines in Uganda under the National Drug Policy and Authority Act (Cap 206), including herbal products. In 2026 that law was replaced. Parliament passed the National Drug and Health Products Authority Bill on 26 March 2026, and President Museveni signed it on 29 April 2026. It creates the National Drug and Health Products Authority, with a wider mandate. We have not yet seen the date it fully takes effect, so you may still see the NDA name on products and in offices for some time.

Notification and registration

Locally made herbal medicines usually go through two steps:

• Notification. NDA describes notification as an initial approval for herbal medicines, based on an evaluation of scientific data on quality, safety and efficacy, plus an inspection of the factory for good manufacturing practice.
• Registration. After notification, herbalists are expected to collect and submit more information on safety and effectiveness before full registration.

The government laboratory NCRL (Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Laboratory) advises healers on these steps. By June 2024, more than 200 herbal medicine brands had been tested and approved for sale in drug shops and pharmacies, according to Nile Post.

Notification is not a licence to claim anything. In 2021 NDA notified the herbal product Covidex only as a “supportive treatment in management of viral infections”, “not as a cure” for COVID-19, after the makers removed claims that it treats and prevents the disease.

How a buyer can check a product

1. Buy from a licensed pharmacy or drug shop, not from a roadside seller, a bus or a social media page.
2. Look at the label. Check for the maker’s name and address, an expiry date, and an NDA notification or registration number. Be careful with products that have none of these.
3. Check the number. Ask the pharmacist, or contact the drug authority to confirm the product and its approved use.
4. Compare the claim with the approval. A product notified for “supportive treatment” is not approved as a cure.
5. Report suspicious products to the drug authority or police.

Why “cures HIV, cancer, diabetes” claims are illegal and dangerous

Under the old Cap 206, section 33 banned advertising any drug for the prevention or treatment of the diseases listed in the Act’s Fifth Schedule. That list includes cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, epilepsy, heart disease and sexually transmitted diseases. The new 2026 law requires all drug advertisements to be approved and bans promoting products beyond their approved uses. According to Parliament, promoting unregistered products can bring fines of up to Shs400 million or 15 years in prison.

In June 2023 NDA and police arrested a Kampala herbalist accused of using TikTok to claim that onions could cure HIV/AIDS, and recovered more than 20 unlicensed products.

These claims are dangerous because:

• There is no cure for HIV. According to WHO, effective treatment (ART) keeps the virus under control, and people with an undetectable viral load do not pass HIV to sexual partners. Stopping ART for a “cure” lets the virus return.
• TB is curable with 4 to 6 months of medicines. Stopping early can make the bacteria drug-resistant.
• Diabetes and cancer get worse quickly without proper care.

Read traditional healer or hospital for danger signs.

Safe use of herbal products

• Tell your health worker about every herbal product you take.
• Be extra careful in pregnancy, while breastfeeding and with children.
• Never replace prescribed medicine without advice.
• Stop and seek care if you get a rash, vomiting, yellow eyes or dark urine.

More on plants in medicinal plants in Uganda. Herbal products sold through Juju.ug must follow our safety policy, including no cure claims.