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Professor Alex Dodoo, Lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School has called on government to strengthen its political will and commitment in the fight against counterfeits and sub standards on medicines flooding the markets. He noted that there were so much sub standard and counterfeit medicines in circulation in the country, thus posing health hazard to Ghanaian consumers, adding, �Ghanaians need a strong sense of security in the use of medicines and medical products.� Speaking at a stakeholders' forum on �Quality Transparency of Pharmaceuticals in Ghana and its Implications for Health Outcomes,� Prof. Dodoo said Ghana needed to promulgate strong and appropriate legislations to fight the menace, which was having toll on both humans and nations. He explained that though Ghana had the Public Health Act, Act 851 of 2012, which extensively defined and dealt with �counterfeit medicines,� very little was said in relation to substandard medicines. �It mentions �standard,� but did not once mention substandard nor what should happen if substandard products are traded though it alludes to substandard products�, he added. The forum, organise by Medicines Transparency Alliance Initiative (MeTA) was the second phase of programmes to encourage the engagement of multiple stakeholders in addressing the issue of counterfeits, sub standards medicines, and promote transparency and the rational pricing of medicines. Prof. Dodoo who is also the Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance, called for the need to establish and strengthen national drug regulatory agencies-the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, with the necessary logistics and resources for serious action to be taken in addressing the issue. Main medicines counterfeited in developing countries are anti-infectives, whilst the main medicines counterfeited in developed countries are those for chronic conditions or lifestyle diseases It is published in literature that less than one percent of all medicines in developed countries are counterfeit, whilst 10-30 percent of medicines in developing countries are either counterfeit or sub standard. Branded products are generic products, medicines for life-threatening conditions, medicines for chronic conditions, medicines for mild conditions, herbal medicines. They are mostly anti-malarials, anti-retrovirals, anti-tuberculosis medicines anda antibiotics. Mr Samuel Boateng Director in charge of Procurement and Supply at the Ministry of Health who spoke on the �Supply Chain, Implications for Quality of Medicines and Health Outcomes,� acknowledged the fact that the presence of counterfeit or substandard drugs in the supply chain was a serious threat to both industry and markets, and needed to be combated unceasingly. He explained that counterfeit medicines were fake medicines that could be contaminated or contained the wrong or no active ingredient. They could have the right active ingredients, but at the wrong dose. Counterfeit drugs are illegal and may be harmful to health. �With the appropriate use of technology to help in tracking and tracing the Chain of custody authentication versus network authentication with the use of barcode, RD codes, RFID and Authenticated RFID Technologies, we help fight this problem�. Mr George Sabblah, Head of Safety Monitoring Departement of FDA who spoke on �Pharmaceutical Regulation, Implications for Quality of Medcines and Health Outcomes,� admitted that weak regulation of pharmaceuticals posed danger to public health and safety and negatively affected the achievement of health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improved health outcomes. He noted that FDA regulated on Clinical trials, Medicines for human and animal use including herbal medicines, homeopathic medicines and vaccines as well as medical devices for household chemicals, cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products and food. He noted the Authority was challenged and called for it to resource with logistics and equipment that could help them in the discharge of their duty. Mr Kofi Kapito a Consumer Advocate said it was the right of the consumer to ask questions when necessary, and urged relevant institutions o always engage the consumer in their discussions to factor in and address their concerns.