I’m excited over FDA's ban on bleaching products

Bubbly Ghanaian actress, Ama K. Abebrese, has expressed excitement over the FDA’s decision to ban skin bleaching products on the Ghanaian market.

“I was so excited when I read the news. I was like, finally! We are making progress,” she told Morning Starr host, Kafui Dey on Starr 103.5FM, Friday.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on Wednesday, August 26, served notice of an imminent ban on cosmetic products containing skin bleaching ingredient, hydroquinone.

Hydroquinone products are marketed for their skin-lightening properties in Asian and African cosmetics markets, according to the U.S Food and Drugs Administration.

But a research conducted revealed that hydroquinone may act as a carcinogen or cancer-causing chemical, hence its ban in the European Union, Japan, Australia and the United States, a couple of years ago.

The ban, as announced through the head of communications at the FDA, James Lartey, takes effect from August 2016, is in accordance with a directive from the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA).

Miss Abebrese feels fulfilled knowing the authorities are beginning to see the essence of their calls.

“When we started the campaign, people took it as an attack on them but the truth is we are only trying to help. I think now all the insults and abuse are totally worth it.

“I’m not going to stop and I am going to keep inspiring them not to start anyway.”

Showbiz icons Nana Ama McBrown, Paulina Oduro and Hammamat Montia have been supporting the actress on her quest to sanitise the streets of the skin-bleaching scourge.

The FDA’s officer in Charge of the cosmetics, Emmanuel Nkrumah, has promised to get in touch with Abebrese and ensure they work together on the course.