Anita Owusu-Kuffour, the Eastern Regional Head of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), and her team have organised a sweep of Community Information Centres to seize unregistered drugs for proper disposal at the Akwadum dumping site.

The exercise which served as a deterrent to other manufacturers, started at about 05:20 hours in the New Juaben North and South Municipalities covering places such as Koforidua-Effiduase, Asokore, Zongo, Yaw Kyerema, Pipeline, Ada, Two-Streams, KTU area, Mile 50, Okorase, and Apenkwa.

Madam Owusu-Kuffour said this was done in line with the objectives of the FDA, which seeks to protect public health by ensuring human safety and efficacy of veterinary drugs, biological products, as well as medical devices.

She said when she and her team visited the various information centers, they met drugs for which claims were being made by the owners to their curative and enormous potency covering heart diseases, stroke, diabetes among others.

“We executed a professional approach putting the scene under control in a smooth-running exercise without confrontation,” Madam Owusu-Kuffour said.

She said the drug sellers and the information center operators cooperated with the team allowing the officials to collect all the unauthorised drugs and products as well as their advertising devices also seized for proper disposal.

Madam Owusu-Kuffour later educated the affected persons and the public on the need for all who wished to trade in such products, to go through the process of registration which had fast and hard rules to be followed regarding the ingredients used in preparing the products, how and where it should be prepared, and labelling.

She emphasised that labelling was very important because it provided safety guidance to buyers to choose appropriately, know the correct dosage and how often to use a product.

She advised buyers to desist from purchasing unregistered goods, to help rid the nation of wholesome products.