Food and Drugs Authority warns media houses

An official of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has appealed to the media not to entertain advertising of herbal products and drugs without recourse to the provisions of the country’s food and drugs laws and regulations of medical devices (MDs).

“Media houses must demand from their clients, either a soft or hard copy of the FDAs approval of their (clients’) adverts before running them, anything contrary to this directive is an offence and offenders would therefore be prosecuted in the Court of law by the FDA,” he said.

Mr. Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie, Head of MDs Department of FDA, said this at a one day stakeholders’ meeting on MDs funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom.

The workshop, on the theme “National Training on MDs Regulation in Ghana” was attended by more than 50 participants from health facilities and Municipal and District Health directorates in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

It was the second in a nationwide Regional meetings being organized by the FDA to educate and sensitize stakeholders about laws and regulations to ensure best practices on the procurement and sale of MDs. The first was held at Ho.

Mr. Bennie said all herbal products “must be a registered and an approved product by the FDA before media houses, especially the FM radio stations, could run adverts on them.”

He said the FDA would soon start prosecuting media houses, particularly the private radio stations, for non-compliance with the directive because the situation had led to the proliferation of fake and expired drugs and herbal products in the health delivery system which is injurious to the health and well-being of the citizenry.

Source: GNA