Apologies not the cure
Arku Jasmine
Features
3 minutes read
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), under the Public Health Act 851, is the state regulatory body charged to protect and enforce standards for the sale of food, drugs, food supplements, herbal and homeopathic medicines and veterinary medicines.
Others are: cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and tobacco products.
This is a huge mandate that requires the collaboration and support of other regulatory bodies and security agencies to execute. These bodies include: The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Environmental Protection Authority, Ghana Standards Authority and the Narcotics Control Board.
The rest include the Pharmacy Council, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Veterinary Services Directorate, the Ghana Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations and other institutions within the national security apparatus.
The task is made the more daunting because of the porous nature of the country's entry points and the corrupt tendency of the Ghanaian to look the other way with his/her hands stretched while criminal-minded business people bring goods of dubious quality into the country.
Our unwavering faith in trade liberalisation has made matters worse; the country has become a dumping ground for all manner of goods from all corners of the globe. Under the circumstances, any institution that is given the responsibility of inspecting and certifying the distribution of items assigned to the FDA is up against an uphill task.
Judging from the wide regulatory powers bestowed on the FDA, one would have expected that the authority would be on top of its business. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case because of factors mentioned earlier and institutional weaknesses associated with many state institutions. These include inadequate human resource and logistics.
That explains why a lot of shoddy goods have found their way onto the local market.
What is even more frightening is the field day importers and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals are having at the expense of the safety and health of the public. While it could be argued that when it comes to food products, consumers have alternatives to make a choice, the same cannot be said when it comes to medicines.
Occasionally, the FDA issues statements warning the public against fake drugs and unwholesome products in circulation. Even though sanctions have been prescribed for companies and individuals that flout the Public Health Act, Act 851, the FDA is not on record to have gone beyond warnings and occasional seizure of fake or unregistered pharmaceuticals to exact other penalties prescribed under the act.
The latest case involving the FDA on one side and Tobinco Pharmaceuticals and Bliss GVS Pharma Limited of India on another is one that the public is following with keen interest.
Tobinco has gone to court to restrain the FDA from further destruction of drugs the former imported into the country and which the FDA claimed did not go through approval procedure.
We were told the managing director of Bliss GVS Pharma Ltd, manufacturers of the Gsunate Plus suppository for the treatment of malaria in children has admitted that the drug has not undergone clinical tests and it is not used in India, its home of origin. But they have been brought into the country to be administered on our children.
According to the FDA, Mr Samuel Tobbin, the Managing Director of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals, has apologised for the harm he has caused and possibly deaths he has inflicted on Ghanaian homes. Does that serve as the cure for such a gigantic, irresponsible behaviour and possibly murder? Do we need to enact laws if they cannot be applied to protect us?
By Kofi Akordor/Daily Graphic/Ghana
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Others are: cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and tobacco products.
This is a huge mandate that requires the collaboration and support of other regulatory bodies and security agencies to execute. These bodies include: The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Environmental Protection Authority, Ghana Standards Authority and the Narcotics Control Board.
The rest include the Pharmacy Council, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Veterinary Services Directorate, the Ghana Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations and other institutions within the national security apparatus.
The task is made the more daunting because of the porous nature of the country's entry points and the corrupt tendency of the Ghanaian to look the other way with his/her hands stretched while criminal-minded business people bring goods of dubious quality into the country.
Our unwavering faith in trade liberalisation has made matters worse; the country has become a dumping ground for all manner of goods from all corners of the globe. Under the circumstances, any institution that is given the responsibility of inspecting and certifying the distribution of items assigned to the FDA is up against an uphill task.
Judging from the wide regulatory powers bestowed on the FDA, one would have expected that the authority would be on top of its business. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case because of factors mentioned earlier and institutional weaknesses associated with many state institutions. These include inadequate human resource and logistics.
That explains why a lot of shoddy goods have found their way onto the local market.
What is even more frightening is the field day importers and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals are having at the expense of the safety and health of the public. While it could be argued that when it comes to food products, consumers have alternatives to make a choice, the same cannot be said when it comes to medicines.
Occasionally, the FDA issues statements warning the public against fake drugs and unwholesome products in circulation. Even though sanctions have been prescribed for companies and individuals that flout the Public Health Act, Act 851, the FDA is not on record to have gone beyond warnings and occasional seizure of fake or unregistered pharmaceuticals to exact other penalties prescribed under the act.
The latest case involving the FDA on one side and Tobinco Pharmaceuticals and Bliss GVS Pharma Limited of India on another is one that the public is following with keen interest.
Tobinco has gone to court to restrain the FDA from further destruction of drugs the former imported into the country and which the FDA claimed did not go through approval procedure.
We were told the managing director of Bliss GVS Pharma Ltd, manufacturers of the Gsunate Plus suppository for the treatment of malaria in children has admitted that the drug has not undergone clinical tests and it is not used in India, its home of origin. But they have been brought into the country to be administered on our children.
According to the FDA, Mr Samuel Tobbin, the Managing Director of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals, has apologised for the harm he has caused and possibly deaths he has inflicted on Ghanaian homes. Does that serve as the cure for such a gigantic, irresponsible behaviour and possibly murder? Do we need to enact laws if they cannot be applied to protect us?
By Kofi Akordor/Daily Graphic/Ghana
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com