FDB urged to review law on its operations

Accra, Aug. 28, GNA - The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has been urged to review the Law governing its operations to improve on its efficiency in ensuring the safety of the people.

"An important goal in this area is to provide timely clearance of safe and beneficial products, while protecting the public from unsafe ones".

Mr. Abraham Odoom Deputy Minister of Health who said this when he launched the 10th anniversary of the Board in Accra noted that the law passed in 1992 needed to be reviewed since technologically things had changed.

The Board, established in 1997 has the task of implementing the appropriate regulatory measures to achieve the highest standards of safety, efficacy and quality for all foods, drugs, cosmetics, household chemical substances and medical devices as well as locally manufactured, imported and sold or used items.

The anniversary, under the theme: "Championing Excellence, Safeguarding Public Health and safety: Our Collective Responsibility" would have public lectures, fun games, a float and awards night to honour pioneers.

The Deputy Minister said with the 10 years experience the FDB should have greater vigilance and more innovative ways to enforce the provisions of the law to face the numerous challenges resulting from globalisation.

He explained that food, drugs and cosmetics were the most widely used consumable items, which possessed properties that promoted health when properly formulated and rationally used but could cause harm, disability and even death if unwholesome. "As a result, these products are the most stringently regulated products worldwide. They are the focus of unparallel research and development, and quality standards for these products are among the stringiest", he added.

Mr Odoom expressed government's concern about the general poor food handling practices that prevailed in the food supply chain and called for a more pragmatic approach to food safety issues by the FDB and the other collaborating agencies.

He urged FDB to foster links with the various market areas where the bulk of the stable diets were found to enforce the food safety byelaws of the local government structures. He assured the FDB of government's support in ensuring that the Board was adequately resourced to undertake all the key regulatory functions and activities to effectively enforced the provisions of the law as well as the control of the product advertisement. Mr. Odoom appealed to consumers to support efforts by the Board by giving relevant information about the negative activities of unscrupulous persons who distributed and sold expired and counterfeit products.

Mr. Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, Chief Executive of FDB though the current staff was not enough, the Board had opened offices in Kumasi, Secondi-Takoradi, Ho, Bolga and Elubo and hoped to open offices in Tamale, Sunyani and Aflao by the end of the year. He noted that the Board's performance in the regulation of medicines was ranked by the World Health Organisation as the best in the sub-Saharan Africa, whilst export of pharmaceutical products manufactured in Ghana to neighbouring countries had gained respect in the sub-region and beyond.

Mr Agyarko said the Board was building capacity in the regulation of clinical trials in Ghana. He said other areas that the Board had made outstanding strides were in quality control, testing of medicines and other products. There are also six facilities that screen physico-chemical, microbiology and medical devices units that conduct full pharmacopoeia tests, condom testing which is the only one in the sub-region. He noted that despite the numerous achievements made, the Board still faced the problem of product promotion and advertisement, which he described as being "a thorn in the flesh of FDB". He explained that for most private stations, advertisements constituted a major source of revenue but noted that the consumer health and safety were not to be sacrificed for revenue generation. " The Board will continue to dialogue with stakeholders in the communication industry and take stiffer regulatory measures to ensure that information transmitted through advertisement are accurate and consumer friendly".

He noted that challenges posed by counterfeit medicines remained worrisome and worsened by the unprofessional conduct of some professionals and called on stakeholders to help address the thorny issue.

Mr Agyarko mentioned over-reliance of the nation on external sources for the supply of basic ingredients for manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and processed food and weak research support base as some of the other challenges facing the Board, which, he said, was till being addressed with the help of other stakeholders. He expressed the hope that the Board would be able to operate in all the ten regions and some districts by 2015 and transform the operational structure of the Board alongside the specialised centres like drug registration, food safety and nutrition, biologics and vaccines, evaluation and registration of medical devices, cosmetic evaluation and safety, laboratory testing services division and inspections and quality management systems division. The Chief Executive said the Board envisaged spearheading the design, development and implementation of a well-coordinated integrated food safety system in Ghana, which will incorporate inputs and define roles for FDB, Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Local Government, Fisheries, Ghana Standards Board and Environmental Protection Agency as well as other accredited laboratories. "FDB would by 2015 facilitate a regulatory system that promotes consumer participation and consumerism to the extent that both the FDB and the industries whose activities and products are regulated by the Board are kept on their toes." Mr Agyarko said the Board would continue to strive for excellence in regulatory practices and collaborate with other stakeholders in developing and sustaining a system of quality assurance for the safety, quality and efficacy of products adding "public health and safety are hinges upon which the door for regulation opens and closes". 28 Aug. 07