The Head of Drugs Market Surveillance Department of Foods and Drugs Authority Vigil Prah Eshun has debunked report suggesting that 30% of medicines in Ghana are either fake or substandard.
Mr. Eshun described the report as fake and a joke that seeks to throw dust into the eyes of the unsuspecting public, adding that “there are many charlatans in the system who are throwing figures about without any proper research work”
On June 23, 2021, Country Director for PharmAccess Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Antwi was reported to have said about 30% of medicines in Ghana are either fake or substandard.
According to Dr. Maxwell Antwi, Ghana’s medicine market faces multiple complex challenges because there are issues of inventory management, forecasting, the value chain is fragmented, payment to medicine suppliers are rarely on time and lack of quality service control. He also added that an estimated 30% of medicines in Ghana are fake or substandard leading to treatment failures, negative side effects, antimicrobial resistances and spread of diseases and unnecessary deaths.
But reacting to these comments, Head of Drugs Market Surveillance Department of Foods and Drugs Authority exclaimed “Talk is cheap, we have charlatans in the system that throws dust in the eyes of the public. How did he come by this figure 30%, what methodology did he use, where, which area did he visit, I hear he said Kintampo. Look at Ghana as a nation and how do you limit your search in kintampo and draw a conclusion, that is just a joke?”
Mr. Eshun explained that FDA has done a lot of works with international organizations on product quality monitoring which did not even bring them close to the 30% figure.
“For instance, the last time we did this monitoring in 2019, the highest figure we got was 14% for antimicrobial and the reason was that there was a poor storage, it has nothing to do with manufacturing, so where did he get his figures from, he should come and tell us” he said.
Although he did mot back his claims with any figure, Mr. Eshun admitted there are fake drugs in the country but disagreed it would be 30%.
“There are a lot of drugs that have not been registered by FDA, we do agree but not in that large scale as seem to have been suggested by the Country Director for PharmAccess. Which category of drugs the report analyze, he (Dr Maxwell Antwi) should come and tell us“.
When Noel Nutsugah host of Statecraft on Zylofon FM suggested to him that the report by the Country Director for PharmAccess, could be of help to the FDA, Mr. Eshun retorted, “This report will in no way support our work. Look, FDA is level 3 rated by WHO, in Africa its only two of us, so if you put these figures out, internationally, what are you telling the world, what are you telling WHO, that they didn’t do their work well and the work they came to do is rubbish or FDA is doing nothing”
He explained that by law, Tema Habour and Kotoka International Airport are the only entry points to import drugs into the country, adding that if the drugs came through any other place, then it is fake.
He advised the public to desist from buying drugs on the street but use the accredited shops and over the counter operators that are properly licensed.
Listen to Mr. Vigil Prah Eshun’s interview with Noel Nutsugah host of Statecraft on Zylofon 102.1 FM
