MOH Gets Mobile Mini-Lab To Check Fake Medicines

The Ministry of Health has received a mobile mini laboratory valued at 4,000 Euros to help detect counterfeit medicines in Ghana.

It was donated to Ghana by the Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF) with funding from the global pharmaceutical and chemical company, Merck.

Mini laboratories are machines that ensure quick, on-the-spot-checks in preliminary assessment of the quality of medical products.

This new facility brings to 22 the number of mini laboratories currently in the country.

The facility would be used by the Food and Drugs Board to augment existing fake drug checking facilities, that they have.

The global health organisation has also launched a programme to eradicate schistosomiasis (bilharzia) from Ghana.

The initiative is being supported by a Ghanaian-born German international footballer, Gerald Asamoah.

Speaking at an event to officially hand over the machine, the Deputy Minister of Health, Rojo Mettle Nunoo, said the facilities already in place in other parts of the country had helped in the detection of counterfeit medicines like, Coartem (antimalarial) and augmentin, a widely used antibiotic.

He extended the government’s gratitude to the two organisations for the initiatives and added that the programme would help Ghana to deal with the disease.

Schitosomiasis is the second most common human parasite disease after malaria with an estimated 200 million people in the world being infected most of whom come from Africa.

“Counterfeit medicines pose a serious threat to public health globally, and here in Ghana as well. In Ghana, 21 mini laboratories are already being used and each one makes a valuable contribution to quality control of medicines”, he said.

The Chairman of GPHF, Frank Gotthardt, said: “Many counterfeit medicines have no therapeutic benefits or sometimes even contain harmful substances. The GPHF mini laboratories are globally unique for their ability to detect such counterfeits quickly, cost-effectively and reliably”.

According to him, this was the beginning of further positive interactions that would happen between the company and Ghana.