The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has in recent times undertaken some tremendous work on clamping down on fake unregistered diapers imported into the Ghanaian market.

These fake diapers have dire health and environmental consequences for our society. The importers of these fake diapers appear to be a cartel bent on flouting the laws of Ghana in order to make cheap profits at the expense of public health.

The pharmaceutical and food industry is a highly regulated industry for the very fact that such a sensitive industry, if left unregulated, would pave way for massive damage to public and environmental health for the unscrupulous profits of a few greedy business people.

In the case of diapers, these unregistered ones are cheaper and their importers easily lure the unsuspecting public into buying these fake products without knowing the health implications for users. Diapers without expiry date, country of origin, or even product components written on them flood the market. Many of these imported diapers are banned products in their country of origin yet find their way into the Ghanaian market illegally.

The rise in skin diseases and infections among babies and adult users of diapers has been highly linked to fake imported diapers on the Ghanaian market. These unregistered imported diapers are of poor quality and are unhygienically packaged and usually hidden in bales of used clothing for illegal distribution mostly without any labeling information. These unregistered diapers contain untested dyes, skin irritants and toxins that make unregistered diapers unsanitary and harmful to baby health especially baby girls who may get infected by germs.  This is why the public is cautioned to buy and use only FDA approved and registered baby diapers for maximum public health.

This is beside the fact that importers of these sub-standard products bypass the Ghana revenue authorities thereby evading taxes and denying the government the much-needed tax revenues.

Despite their clear violations of the laws of Ghana, these importers of fake diapers have managed to flood the market with products from the cities to towns and villages. Many mothers who are reporting to hospitals and clinics with reports of skin diseases have no idea the source of their woes is the fake imported diapers available on the market.

This is why it is the statutory responsibility of the FDA to enforce the law and protect all these innocent families and their babies.

However, in carrying out their duties, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has come under massive attack from the cabal of importers of fake diapers. These people attacking the FDA seem to think of themselves as too powerful to be stopped from their illegal activities. The importers of these fake diapers have been operating with impunity for the past years until the FDA decided to stamp its authority and work in the greater interest of public health.

The FDA has demonstrated courage to do what is right in general and particularly on the matter of unapproved imported diapers in the interest of public health. It is therefore little wonder that their efforts have been recognized and praised by many individuals and organizations including the pharmaceutical society of Ghana who commended the FDA for their dedication to public health and safety.

In 2020, the World Health Organization (W.H.O) in recognition of the FDA’s hard work ranked Ghana’s FDA at Maturity Level 3 ‘’for its medicines regulatory system that ensures the safety, quality, and efficacy of all medical products imported, manufactured or distributed in the country.’’

Clearly, Ghana’s FDA is on the right path on the issue of fake imported diapers and no amount of orchestrated attacks on the C.E.O or the organization itself should deter them from enforcing.

It is expected that the Ghana Revenue Authority will take active interest in this issue due to the implications for government revenue loses emanating from the illegal importation of diapers without approval from the FDA.

The Economic and Organized Crimes Office and the police CID must also continue to support the FDA in its effort to enforce the law and protect public health without fear or favour to the cabal of illegal importers who are currently operating with impunity.