The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Mr Hudu Mogtari, has advised the public to desist from buying medicines on vehicles and at lorry stations.
According to him, a lot of the drugs are not stored under the right temperature conditions and have serious health implications.
Mr Mogtari said this at the training workshop for local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Accra last Tuesday.
The programme was funded by the Department for International Development (DfID) as part of efforts to ensure pharmaceutical products on the Ghanaian market are of good quality.
FDA, GPRTU collaboration
Mr Mogtari stated that drugs sold by the roadside, at bus stops, in vehicles, and at lorry stations were usually not licensed, a situation the authority frowned on.
He added that the FDA had collaborated with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to ensure that operators of such drugs were brought to book.
“The FDA is responsible for licensing premises where drugs can be sold and vehicles are not included,” he said.
He also cautioned those who sold fake drugs, adding that “dealing with fake medicines is a crime, according to the laws of the land.’’
Reduction in sub-standard drugs
Mr Mogtari noted, however, that the sale of substandard drugs had reduced on the Ghanaian market from 39 per cent in 2009 to six per cent currently and attributed that to the efforts of the authority.
He, however, added that there was the need for more work to be done to eradicate the sale of fake drugs on the market.
The FDA, he stated, organises periodic training for the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to enable them to compete fairly with their foreign counterparts.
The Production Manager at Pharmanova Limited, Mr James Awuku-Darko, expressed worry over the scarcity of raw materials for drugs.
He urged the FDA to revive its schedules to train manufacturers ahead of future demands to improve stability of drug supply in the country.
