By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, July 30, GNA -The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has intensified efforts to protect public health by educating dry storage facility owners, provision shop operators, retailers and distributors on regulatory requirements governing the sale and distribution of regulated products.
The Authority is mandated to ensure the safety, quality, and efficacy of regulated products on the Ghanaian market through education and enforcement of best practices.
A stakeholder engagement, organised by the Upper East Regional Office of the FDA, sought to promote compliance with product registration laws and best practices in storage, warehousing and distribution in the region.
Mr Abel Ndego, the Acting Regional Head of the Authority, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a day’s training programme for stakeholders across the region, said the Authority considered it necessary to continuously build the capacity of stakeholders to ensure they operated within the country’s regulatory framework.
“As a state-mandated agency ensuring public health and safety, we have always found it imperative to equip our clients with relevant knowledge and best practices, especially when it comes to the various areas of our regulatory mandate,” he said.
He said routine post-market surveillance revealed that some retailers and distributors continued to stock and distribute unregistered products, posing serious risks to public health.
“We have during our post-market surveillance activities, noticed that some distributors are dealing in unregistered products. This obviously has a negative health impact on consumers because we cannot ascertain or guarantee the safety, efficacy and quality of these products,” Mr Ndego stated.
He reminded the participants that Ghana’s laws prohibited the sale, display or free distribution of products not authorized, verified or registered by the FDA.
“By law, products that have not been authorized, verified or registered by the Food and Drugs Authority are not supposed to be offered for sale, displayed for sale or even given out as free gifts,” he said.
The participants were taken through product registration procedures, good storage practices, good warehouse management and distribution standards, as well as region-specific challenges affecting the movement of regulated products.
Mr Ndego noted that the region’s proximity to Burkina Faso and Togo, coupled with its porous borders, made it particularly vulnerable to the influx of unregistered products.
“Our region is quite unique because we are bordered by Burkina Faso and Togo, and because of the porous nature of our borders, the potential for the influx of unregistered products is quite high. We want to stem the tide,” he explained.
Mr Ndego urged distributors and retailers to support efforts to prevent unregistered products from entering the market by refusing to stock or distribute them.
“When those involved in distribution appreciate the negative health impact of unregistered products, they will help us execute our mandate by denying these products access to the market and minimizing their influx into the system,” he added.
The Acting Regional Head described the engagement as productive, noting that participants actively contributed to discussions and sought clarification on key regulatory issues.
“It has been very insightful. The participants have shown enthusiasm and asked relevant questions that will benefit both of us, as regulators and them as distributors, retailers and operators of dry storage facilities,” the noted.
Reaffirming the Authority’s commitment to public health, Mr Ndego assured residents that the FDA would continue to enforce regulations, while working with industry players to improve compliance.
“We want to assure the general public that the FDA still has your health as our priority. We will continue to put in place all the pragmatic mechanisms within the ambit of the law to protect the good people of the region and, by extension the people of Ghana,” he said.
He expressed optimism that participants would apply the knowledge acquired during the training by improving how they source, store, display and distribute regulated products.
“Our expectation is that the information shared today will be reflected in the way participants purchase their products, display their products and distribute their products,” he said.
Mr Elvis Akaboka, a participant from God’s Love Supermarket, a popular supermarket, affectionately called TT Shop in Sandema the Builsa North Municipality, commended the FDA for the routine training programme to sensitize them on regulatory requirements on the sale and distribution of regulated products, and said the programme was impactful.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]