Last week, a section of the Ghanaian media attacked the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Dr. Stephen Opuni, over the performance of his duties. Some of the remarks were scathing. Some of the newspapers went to the extent of claiming that Dr. Opuni was demanding sex from the proprietress of Semanhyia Herbal Clinic, at Kasoa, near Accra.
Whilst the media campaign was going on, The Herald learnt that some high profile government officials especially at the Ministry of Health, were also at the corridors of power seeking to undermine Dr. Opuni.
One could not imagine what was going on until the FDB announced that it had placed a ban on the activities of Semanhyia Herbal Clinic and its products because the management of the company does not have the certification to sell the drugs it is producing. Besides, some of the medicines had been examined and founded to have been bad.
Obviously, those behind the media attacks and those working quietly against Dr. Opuni and his men knew what they were about. They were preparing the ground to neutralize what they knew would be the outcome of investigations being conducted by FDB at the premises of Semanhyia Herbal Centre.
Surely, many Ghanaians have suffered through such diabolical plans and our joy is that, the government is aware of what a good job is being done by the FDB to protect the lives of Ghanaians.
The media attacks are a desperate attempt to win public sympathy, the same public whose welfare Semanhyia did not consider, but rather put her parochial interest above.
In Ghana it is assumed that everybody is or must be corrupt, and so anyone who happens to be an exception would be vilified and called names and all kinds of allegations would be made against you.
Why should a Ghanaian, bottle Tampico, an orange beverage, and mixed it with drugs that are supposed to be used as an injection to cure HIV/AIDS?
What will make a person put Turpentine, a flammable liquid used by carpenters for wood polishing in thumb-size bottles and sell them as medicine for the cure of headache it is only a wicked person who will do that.
If you want to commit a crime in this country, and get away with it, just look around your room and if you are lucky to get a shirt that has colours similar to those of any political party, run out into the street and start shouting, NDC, NPP, PNC, CPP, and some gullible minds in the media who are anti-progress, would quickly launch scathing attacks on the person you are accusing.
Shouldn’t the media be asking the question as to how long Semanhyia Herbal Clinic and its products been in the market? Why have the media houses not found out the number of people who have died as a result of consuming the drugs that have not received certification?
When will they find out how many people are terminally ill as a result of the consumption of these unwholesome herbal drugs?
Instead of commending Dr. Opuni and his staff for their steadfastness and vigilance in stopping these fake herbal products from further killing people and bringing to an end sorrow to many families, some of us in the media have rather become the harbinger for destroying somebody who is our protector, and working hard to make sure we consume only certified drugs.
The former Chief Executive Officer of FDB, Mr. Emmanuel Agyarko did nothing about these dangerous drug;, he rather spent time chasing radio presenters who advertised the drugs instead of dealing with the manufacturers and the rogues in the herbal drugs industry.
If he had flushed out the dangerous drug manufacturers out of the system, some of them unrepentant women drug manufacturers would not be accusing those who want to do the right thing of demanding sex from them.
We appeal to President Mills to see beyond this charade and cheap propaganda intended to smear Dr. Opuni and paint him and his staff who are trying to rid this country of this fake and quacks, as bad people.
The health of the people is the wealth of the nation; we have to safeguard our health if we wish to attain those goals we have set for ourselves.
Those of us on The Herald commend your efforts, Dr. Opuni, to bring sanity into the medical industry, and so we believe are many well-meaning Ghanaians who know that what you are doing is for their wellbeing.
To those media houses who are encouraging and hiding behind politics to promote these quack doctors, we ask you to find out whether your mothers, fathers, sisters, aunties, uncles, are not suffering from some ailments because of the activities of these dangerous drug manufacturers and dispensers.
Why is it that, the good herbal drug manufacturers who have obtained permits and certifications from FDB, are not chased out of their offices and some of their drugs banned?
May be this is food for thought for us.
