Ghana must not surrender the regulatory authority of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) over medicines and other health products in exchange for foreign financial assistance, Chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee on Health, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, has said.

He insists that the FDA must retain the final responsibility for examining and determining whether medical products entering Ghana are safe for use.

Dr Nawaane questioned why Ghana should allow medicines supplied under an international assistance programme to bypass the country’s regulatory processes.

“We shouldn’t differentiate because they just want to give us a hundred million dollars and we should allow all their drugs to come in,” he said.

According to him, accepting financial support from an international partner should not require Ghana to compromise its regulatory safeguards.

Dr Nawaane pointed to the FDA’s regulatory standing, arguing that Ghana already has the institutional capacity to assess medicines and other health products entering the country.

The FDA attained Maturity Level 3 under the World Health Organisation’s regulatory classification, a status that indicates a stable, well-functioning and integrated regulatory system. Ghana was among the first African countries to attain the designation.

Dr Nawane therefore questioned why Ghana should set aside the authority of an institution with an established regulatory mandate simply because products are being supplied as part of foreign assistance.

He said the fact that a product was considered safe at its point of production should not remove the need for regulatory checks once it reaches Ghana.

He noted that medicines and other health products can spend considerable time in transit or at ports before reaching their intended destinations.

“We have to examine and testify whether it is wholesome,” he said.

Dr Nawaane also referred to the establishment of the African Medicines Agency and questioned why Ghana should not continue exercising its own regulatory responsibilities over products entering the country.

His comments come amid concerns over provisions in a proposed US-Ghana health compact relating to the regulation of medicines and other medical products.

He spoke on TV3.

President John Mahama has said the proposed arrangement would have prevented the FDA from inspecting certain medicines and medical products supplied under the programme. He cited the provision, alongside clauses concerning medical records, pathogen information and counterpart funding, as reasons Ghana rejected the compact.

For Dr Nawane, the issue is not whether Ghana should accept international support, but whether such assistance should come at the expense of the country's ability to independently protect public health.

He maintained that foreign assistance should complement Ghana’s regulatory systems rather than override them.