The police in Kumasi have arrested a herbalist who claims to have concoctions for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases. Consequently, the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has ordered the immediate suspension of drug production activities at the facilities used by Nicholas Antwi for production and dispensing of the concoctions. According to a statement signed by the Chief Executive of the FDB, Dr Stephen Opuni, and issued by the board, Antwi had confessed that the concoction dispensed as a herbal preparation contained streptomycin, gentamicin and sulphatiozole used for the treatment of various infections, including tuberculosis. "Mr Antwi, who claims to be a herbalist, has two facilities: One at Kubease, near Ejisu, in the Ashanti Region and another near Lashibi Tema, where he has advertised the treatment for chronic diseases and HIV/AIDS," it said. "The production facility at Lashibi is not only unlicensed for such an activity but also unsuitable for the preparation of medicines. The place is unkempt, part of a residential facility and both domestic and production activities are carried out together," it said. The FDB cautioned the public that the herbalist had neither licensed the said facilities for the production of any medicine nor registered any such product for the treatment of chronic diseases and HIV/AIDS. Section 18 of the Food and Drugs Law states, "No person shall manufacture, prepare, sell, supply, export or import into Ghana any drug, cosmetic, medical device or household chemical, unless the article has been registered with the Food and Drugs Board." Again, Section 15 and Schedule II of PNDC Law 305B prohibits advertisement for the treatment of certain diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The statement advised HIV/AIDS patients to seek treatment at certified health institutions where approved and efficacious anti-retroviral drugs and other medications were available for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. Source: Daily Graphic