The Upper East Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), says a type of Postinor 2 with a pink flower label on the pack is not registered.

The Authority, through its Principal Regulatory Officer, Mr Abel Ndego, said “Postinor 2 is a drug we are all familiar with, and we know it is something we use for preventing pregnancies but this particular one with the pink flower, has not been registered by the FDA.”

He said the FDA could therefore not ascertain the safety and efficacy of the said brand, as it had not gone through the Authority’s system.

“We have also undertaken quality product monitoring of this particular product, and we have noticed that the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient that should instigate the ability of the product to prevent pregnancy is not at the required value.

“And so once you use it, you would not get the needed pharmaceutical implication,” Mr Ndego said when he addressed participants at the Regional launch of the Goodlife Health Fair in Bolgatanga.

The three-day Fair was organized by the Regional Health Directorate in collaboration with the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC), a consortium partner under the USAID Accelerating Social and Behavior Change (ASBC) activity.

The programme was aimed at promoting health and wellness among members of the public and focused on encouraging behaviour change, and improved access to essential healthcare services.

It was on the theme: “Promoting good health through uptake of positive health behaviour.”

Mr Ndego admonished members of the public to buy pharmaceutical products from accredited licensed pharmacies and over-the-counter sale outlets, saying “This way, you are sure that you are buying registered products and the products are stored under the requisite storage conditions.”

According to him, the efficacy of medicines was directly linked to storage, “Storage affects medicine efficacy very seriously. We have medicines that are supposed to be in the cool chain. They should be refrigerated.”

Mr Ndego observed that some members of the public stored syrup medications for children on kitchen shelves instead of refrigerators, noting that the temperature in the kitchen could affect the efficacy of the medicine.

The Principal Regulator, in the company of some officials of the FDA, who displayed unregulated pharmaceutical products at the Fair to draw participants' attention and educate them on the dangers of such products, said there were lots of products on the market claiming to cure all manner of diseases.

Showing one of such unregistered products with images of male sexual organs on it, the Principal Regulator said “Even the packaging alone will tell you that this has not been approved by the FDA because we would not allow this kind of obscene pictures on a product.

“But these are products that you would be surprised at the calibre of people who are purchasing them in the name of strengthening and elongating their organs. These have very dire health consequences on us,” he cautioned.