FDB is not against development of herbal medicine - Official

Tamale, Sept. 15, GNA - Mr Yaw Kwarteng, an official of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has said the temporary ban on advertisement of drugs was not meant to discourage the development of herbal medicine. He said it had been the intention of the FDB, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the government to promote the growth of the herbal industry in an orderly manner to ensure that its products met the required standards.

Mr Kwarteng was speaking at a public forum organised by the FDB in Tamale on Thursday to explain the reasons for the temporary ban on drug advertisements in the media to generate debate on how to effectively regulate the advertising industry.

Participants at the forum included the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA), Nurses and Midwives Council, (NMC), Traditional Healers Association (THA), and the District Assemblies. Mr Kwarteng said the media had been at the centre of the ban on advertising because some media houses and presenters of F.M. stations had turned themselves into medical experts overnight. "They are making pronouncements on the efficacy of some drugs to the public without taking into consideration the danger public health is exposed to", he said.

He told the media to be circumspect in the way they advertised drugs and not to allow profit to becloud their social responsibility.

Mr kwarteng said the FDB had held previous meetings with the various media houses and the National Media Commission (NMC) on how to regulate the advertisement of drugs but this had not yielded any significant change, adding: "The media still continue to advertise drugs, hence the need for the ban".

He warned against advertisement of alcoholic beverages as medicinal products, which could enhance male potency or cure infertility in both women and men, saying, "This is an abuse because you cannot market drink as medicine".

Mr Solomon Agampim, Zonal Officer of the FBD in charge of the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, urged district assemblies and other stakeholders to help enforce the law on the temporary ban on drug advertisements in their areas.

The assemblies, he said, could do this by ensuring that all herbal medicine practitioners, who came into their districts registered with the Traditional Healers Association to facilitate the monitoring of their activities.

Mr Agampim appealed to the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and other transport organisations to stop the practice of advertising drugs on board vehicles by peddlers. 15 Sept. 06