HAN declares war against fake drugs
The Executive Director of Health Access Network (HAN), Mr. Charles Allotey, has indicated his preparedness to fight against the sales and patronage of fake drugs in the country. He has thus declared an open and unending war on the increasing spate of fake drugs in the Ghanaian society.
According to him, this would ensure that a patient-centered regulatory and policymaking approach becomes the dominant way of addressing access and quality issues in Ghana, as far as medicine and healthcare is concerned.
The Executive Director of HAN made this known in an interview with this paper in Accra. This comes in the wake of a high prevalence rate of fake and counterfeit medicines, found on the 'black market', with fraudulent and mislabeling packaging.
To this end, a partnership between Health Access Network and mPedigree Network has been formed to coordinate various ongoing anti-counterfeiting efforts in order to ensure a harmonized approach towards dealing with the problem at all levels of the health ecosystem.
This partnership would support the statutory authorities in their mandate to police existing standards, while contributing to the equally critical task of formulating emerging standards that are responsive to new trends in pharmaceutical quality assurance.
Meanwhile, recent statistics from several reputable bodies have placed such high prevalence rate of counterfeit drugs between 15 and 25 per cent of all medicines which are being sold in sub-Saharan Africa.
These incidents come in the wake of several studies which have found frightening levels of substandard medication in the national drug supply chain in Ghana. “While it is true that not all substandard medicines come from counterfeit sources, and that poor handling of legitimate medicines can corrupt them, substandard medicines are just as dangerous to consumers and patients”, said Mr. Allotey.
That notwithstanding, he said “the increasing incidents of duplication and imitation, contents tampering, unlicensed repackaging, unauthorized parallel trading, or the sale of dummies masquerading as drugs. In all these situations, the consequences are largely the same and fatal to Ghana's public health system”.
According to him, not all substandard medicines come from counterfeit sources, and that poor handling of legitimate medicines can be corrupted, adding that “Substandard medicines are just as dangerous to consumers and patients”.
Mr. Allotey has thus urged stakeholders in the industry to assist the country's Ministry of Health and the Food & Drugs Board to contain the crisis of counterfeit medicines.
It would be recalled that a research report in 2008, conducted by Researchers at KNUST, namely Ofori Kwakye, Asantewaa and Gaye, found out that 82 per cent of sampled artesunate which were being sold in pharmacies in Kumasi were substandard as compared to European guidelines.
They described the situation as intolerable for patients and consumers of health products, stressing that it should be unacceptable to regulators, policymakers, and concerned civil society actors. “It threatens the growth of pharmaceutical industry and commerce in this country, undercutting any possibility of Ghana attaining security in the supply of quality medicines both through trade and local production. The proliferation of counterfeit medicines must clearly be stopped”, the report said.
Health Access Network is a network of health professionals and consumer health advocates committed in using innovative ways through collaboration with wide range of stakeholders including government, non government and civil society organisations to promote access to essential medicines for the people of Ghana.