Take drugs with precausion-to avoid negative implications

Published in the Daily Graphic on 3/02/10 pg 29, Lead story

Story: Matilda Attram
Last month, the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) ordered the recall of substandard Ciprofloxacin tablets (500 mg) USP produced by GR Industries Limited in Accra.
That was after the board had found the drug to be unwholesome when it was sampled and analysed through the its post-market surveillance activities.
A statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Stephen K. Opuni, and issued by the board in Accra said the product had no batch number and manufacturing date on both the primary and secondary packages.
Additionally, the product had no legible date of expiry on the primary package and no date of expiry on the secondary package.
This means it is very necessary for people to check all this information on food and drug products before purchases are made, in view of the danger unwholesome products pose to public health and safety.
The Communications Manager of the FDB, Mr Yarnie Lartey, who spoke to the Daily Graphic on the purchase of unregistered consumer goods, cautioned Ghanaians to make deliberate efforts to check the particulars on the labels of consumer goods before purchasing them.
He said the sale of unregistered items such as food and medicine was illegal under the law and there was the need for maximum support and co-operation from the public to make the enforcement of the law effective.
He further explained that the FDB was a regulatory body concerned with the testing and registration of consumable goods in the country, noting that the board could only perform its duties with information from the public on manufacturers who sold items without going through the process of registration.
Reacting to the sale of drugs in moving vehicles, Mr Yartey called for self-regulation among the public regarding where and how they bought things.
"When it comes to buying, it is a matter of choice where one goes, but the problem of most Ghanaians concerns the exercise of self-regulation," he said.
To step up public education on the need for consumers to be vigilant when purchasing drugs, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Ghana, Mr Joseph Nyoagbe, has advised the public to purchase all drugs from recognised licensed chemical or pharmaceutical shops in order to identify and trace manufacturers and distributors for non-compliance with existing regulatory measures.
He also cautioned people who sold in moving vehicles, at lorry parks and marketplaces to desist from that practice, stressing that it was illegal for an individual to sell drugs without a licence and the authority of the council.
“It is a criminal offence to supply or sell medicine without license and anyone who engages in such a practice faces arrest and prosecution,” he said.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Nyoagbe pointed out that the problem of drug peddling was of great concern to the council and called for public support to deal with the issue.
He indicated that the council was working in collaboration with the FDB, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the police to address the issue in all parts of the country.
“The council has, over the years, been assisting the police by organising swoops to apprehend culprits. It has also met with executives of the GPRTU to sensitise members to discourage drug peddlers from selling drugs in their vehicles,” he stated.
The Public Affairs Officer of the Pharmacy Council, Madam Victoria Goka, said medicine, although helpful to the human system, could also be dangerous if taken without precaution.
She said the negative implications of medicine were sometimes caused by its form and way of storage, depending on the chemicals used in its preparations.
“Some of these medicines sold are stored in plastic bags which are carried under the sun’s rays for a long time and this can cause the generation of another disease, instead of curing the other,” she stated.
She said the council had started a national campaign on issues concerning medication through the Ghana Pharmacy Students Association to educate the public.
“The campaign started last year in the Northern Region and will continue from there till we cover the whole country,” she said.
Madam Goka advised the public to seek assistance from professional pharmacists for counselling any time there was the need to purchase drugs and encouraged the public to report to the council any unsatisfactory and unprofessional conduct on the part of chemical and pharmaceutical shop operators.