Counterfeit medicines a threat to society - Minister of Health

Accra, March 26, GNA - Madam Sherry Ayitey, Minister for Health, on Tuesday said the illegal trade in counterfeit drug is now assuming threatening dimension.

She said: 'The world is living in a dangerous and extremely complicated time so far as medicines are concerned; even though the proliferation of fake, falsified and counterfeit medicines had been with us for centuries.

'Our resolve as a country and a government must be to marshal all our forces to tackle this menace decisively; Ghana cannot and will not be a place for counterfeit medicines and anyone found involved in this trade will face the full rigors of the law regardless of their status in society'.

Madam Ayitey made the remark in a speech read on her behalf by Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director Pharmaceutical Services and Chief Pharmacist of the Ministry at a two-day workshop on the problem of counterfeit medicines in Ghana.

The workshop was organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in Accra.

She maintained that the fight against counterfeit drugs was everyone's fight and we must wage this battle together until victory was won.

The Health Minister noted that the international community in 2012, at the World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution specifically challenging governments everywhere to rise up and deal with the menace.

She said WHA Resolution 65.19 expressed concern about the proliferation Substandard/Spurious/Falsely-labelled/Falsified/Counterfeit (SSFFCs) medical products and called on member states to put in place mechanisms to protect their populations.

Madam Ayitey said SSFFCs include medicinal products with the correct ingredients or with the wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient or too much active ingredients, or fake packaging.

She said such medicines damage and in extreme cases even kills patients leading to untold consequences for patients, health professionals and even the government.

She said public confidence in health systems may be eroded following use and or detection of counterfeit medicines in any country.

The Minister stated that all kinds of medicines had been counterfeited; ranging from medicines used for the treatment of life-threatening conditions like pneumonia, malaria and tuberculosis to inexpensive generic versions of painkillers and antihistamines.

She said between January 1999 and October 2000 alone, 46 confidential reports relating to such drugs were received by the World Health Organization from 20 countries.

She added that about 60 per cent of these reports came from developing countries, whereas the remaining 40 per cent were reported by developed countries.

Madam Ayitey called on the Food and Drug Agency (FDA), the International Police, Immigration and Custom to work together with WHO to dislodge the criminal networks raking in billions of dollars from this cynical trade.

The Minister congratulated the GAAS for putting together the two day workshop on counterfeit medicines.

Professor Francis K. A. Allotey, GAAS President was grateful to the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and Pfizer who through the Royal Society Pfizer African Academies programme had provided financial support for organising the workshop.

Prof Ivan Addae-Mensah, Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, gave an overview of the current situation of counterfeit and substandard medicines in Ghana and some African.

He urged the government to ensure that medicines were screened at the ports of entry to make sure they meet standards.

He also called for adequate resourcing of the FDA to be able to stand to the challenges of counterfeit medicines in the country. GNA