Don’t patronise unlicensed drug peddlers - Pharmacist advises public
The Chairman of the Eastern Regional Chapter of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH-ER), Dr. George Attara Boye, has appealed to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the police to clampdown on unlicensed drug peddlers.
He said that would help to contain the already escalating situation of drug peddling across the country.
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In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr. Attara Boye said most drugs sold in vehicles and other places rather than pharmacies and registered chemical shops had not been tested and approved by authorities, although they had found their way onto the market and silently harming the health of ignorant users.
He, therefore, urged the relevant authorities to arrest and prosecute culprits to deter others.
Threat to life
Sharing his thoughts on the World Pharmacists Day which is celebrated on September 25 each year, Dr. Boye lamented drug peddling and sale of unapproved drugs, saying the practice was growing because the public patronised drugs in vehicles from untrained persons rather than from pharmacists.
He explained that the wrong administration of drugs and the use of unapproved drugs were quick ways of taking human lives, and stressed that the control of such activities must be taken seriously by all stakeholders.
He urged pharmacists, especially members of the PSGH-ER, to be resolute and continue to offer the best services to Ghanaians to help save lives.
Donation, appeal
As part of the celebration of the World Pharmacists Day, Dr. Boye led the PSGH-ER to donate drugs and food items to the Koforidua Prisons in the New Juaben North Municipality.
The donation — worth GH¢8,000 — included gallons of cooking oil, bags of rice and gari, packets of toothbrush and tubes of toothpaste, toiletries, bags of sachet water, boxes of mackerel, soft drinks and drugs.
The Deputy Commander of the Koforidua Prisons, Assistant Director of Prisons Christopher Hayibor, appealed to corporate organisations and philanthropists to help fix the deplorable state of the former armoury now serving as a prison, adding that the facilities of the inmates were leaking badly.
"Some of the facilities are in deplorable states. It is a pitiful situation whenever it rains. We have written to the headquarters. We are appealing to corporate organisations and philanthropists to help keep the place in the best of conditions," he said.