<<Print>>

The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira, says public health facilities do not purchase drugs from peddlers but from drug manufacturers accredited by the Food and Drugs Authority. Dr. Appiah Denkyira also said the tender process makes it impossible for the Ghana Health Service to procure such expired and fake drugs. His reaction comes in the wake of the impounding of fake drugs from three pharmaceutical firms in the country. Dr. Appiah Denkyira, who spoke to George Ankrah, said the purchasing process makes their drugs safe. The Deputy Director of Food and Drugs Authority, Isaka Collison Coffie, has been explaining circumstances leading to the arrest of the three companies involved in the importation and distribution of fake, contaminated and unregistered drugs in the country. Speaking on Radio Ghana's Uniiq Breakfast Drive this morning, Mr. Coffie, narrated a number of steps the FDA is taking to deal with the situation. For his part, a private legal practitioner, Abraham Amaliba, says the law is clear on the kind of punishment that is meted out to those who deal in fake and contaminated drugs. Speaking to Radio Ghana on whether or not the Court should prefer stiffer sanctions on those who engage in this illegal trade, Mr. Amaliba said the law is explicitly clear on the situation. He, however, called on the Food and Drugs Authority to intensify their patrols to eliminate fake drug in the country. Meanwhile the Medical Superintendent in charge of Maternal Health at the Shai Osudoku District Hospital at Dodowa, Dr. Kennedy Brightson, has described the pharmaceutical companies which supplied the fake drugs into the Ghanaian medical system as murderers. He expressed regret that thousands of women, mothers, husbands and future leaders may have lost their lives as a result of this fraud.