By Victoria Agyemang
Cape Coast, Oct. 15, GNA – The Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) has shut down some herbal medicine shops in Cape Coast for operating with expired licences as part of an enforcement exercise to ensure compliance with regulatory standards in the traditional medicine sector.
The exercise, undertaken by the Council’s Compliance, Enforcement and Inspection Unit, is aimed at safeguarding public health and ensuring that practitioners and facilities operate within the country’s regulatory framework.
Mr Nicholas Annan, Compliance, Enforcement and Inspection Officer of the TMPC, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during an inspection of herbal medicine facilities in Cape Coast.
He said the exercise involved inspecting facilities engaged in the sale and provision of herbal and traditional medicine services to ascertain their licensing status and compliance with regulatory requirements.
According to him, some of the facilities inspected had validly acquired licences in the past but had failed to renew them for several years.
“We have identified facilities whose licences expired three and four years ago. Although they were previously licensed, they have failed to renew their licences, and we have therefore closed them down,” he said.
The affected operators had been directed to report to the Council’s office to regularise their operations by renewing their licences before they would be permitted to resume business.
He said the Council would conduct follow-up inspections to verify compliance before reopening the affected facilities.
Mr Annan stressed that the exercise was not intended to frustrate herbal medicine practitioners but to ensure that the sector operated within established standards to protect consumers.
“The basic thing we are looking at is public health and safety. We want to ensure that everybody in the traditional medicine sector is properly regulated, their licences are up to date, and they are doing the right thing,” he stated.
He emphasised that the Council remained committed to strengthening compliance and promoting professionalism within the traditional medicine industry.
Mr Annan further indicated that the enforcement exercise was not a one-off activity, explaining that officers had been deployed to undertake regular monitoring and inspections to ensure sustained compliance.
He said the Council would continue to monitor facilities to ensure that operators maintained valid licences and adhered to the required standards.
“We have officers on the field who undertake regular monitoring. They will continue visiting facilities to ensure that the right thing is being done,” he said.
Mr Annan disclosed that although the current compliance team was operating in Cape Coast, similar enforcement activities were being undertaken in other regions across the country.
He reiterated the Council’s commitment to protecting public health through effective regulation and continuous monitoring of traditional medicine practitioners and facilities.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey /Kenneth Odeng Adade