Radio stations are worst culprits -Dr Asare

Kumasi, May 27, GNA - Dr Kofi Asare, Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, has observed that radio stations are the worst culprits in the current proliferation of fake herbal and orthodox drugs in the country.

He said it has over the years been the practice of radio stations to advertise all sorts of drugs on their airwaves without certifying from the Food and Drugs Board the efficacy of such drugs. Dr Asare was speaking at a fund raising ceremony organised by the Ashanti regional branch of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) as part of activities marking its annual nurses' week celebration in Kumasi on Friday.

He noted that in as much as radio stations are interested in the money they make, they also owe the nation the responsibility of helping to reduce the influx of counterfeit drugs on the markets by ensuring that all drugs they advertise are genuine.

He commended the nurses for the good services they are rendering Ghanaians and urged them to improve on their performance.

Speaking on the theme, "Counterfeits Kill -Nurses Target Counterfeit Medicines", the regional chairman of GRNA, Mr Kwame Adinkrah, said patient safety concerns in the health care system remains the most important issue that must be addressed by the health care professionals.

According to him, the need to protect patients and consumers stems from the fact that they are the primary victims of counterfeit medicines.

Mr Adinkrah emphasised that public confidence in health care professionals is gradually being eroded by fake medicines which, to a large extent accounts for negative treatment outcomes, thus putting patient's at risk.

In a speech read for him, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, intimated that the effects of counterfeit drugs in the country cannot be over-emphasised. He said the least mistake could cause human disaster and in view of that, the education of the general public by nurses and other paramedical staff on the dangers of counterfeit drugs cannot be compromised.