Provide funding to facilitate WHO certification - Danadams appeals to govt
The management of Danadams Pharmaceutical Limited has appealed to the government to provide the company with the necessary funding for it to obtain World Health Organisation (WHO) certification to enable it to gain access to the global market.
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The Chief Executive of the company, Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi, said it needed to raise $22 million to complete the facility expansion project that is required by WHO to produce essential drugs, including anti-retroviral drugs, for the global market.
“As it stands, ECOWAS has pledged to give us a $9.5-million loan and we have already invested $7 million. All that is left is for the government to support us with a $6-million loan to get that certification,” he said.
He made the appeal when the 13-member Parliamentary Select Committee on Health paid a working visit to the company in Accra.
According to Dr Gyamfi, Danadams would lose the ECOWAS funding if it was not able to secure the government’s support by October 31, this year.
He said the company had, for the past two years, made attempts to secure the $6-million funding from the Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF) but to no avail.
“We have already petitioned the government but we have not received any reply, but the deadline to secure the ECOWAS funding is approaching,” he added.
Ramifications
Touching on the ramifications for not being able to secure the funding before the October 31 deadline, Dr Gyamfi said, “It means Ghana will be the only country in ECOWAS without the WHO certification.”
He said the Nigeria government, realising the need to support pharmaceutical companies in that country, provided a $200-million funding for three companies to enable them to attain the WHO certification and supply essential drugs internationally.
“All we need is a letter from EDAIF pledging the $6-million support to Danadams to enable us to get the $9.5 million from ECOWAS,” he said.
The Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Mr Wisdom Gidiso, assured the management of Danadams that the government would help it secure the needed funding for the expansion project and the acquisition of the WHO certification.
He said looking at the objectives of the locally owned company, it would be sad for the government not to invest in and support local pharmaceutical companies to access the global market.
According to Mr Gidiso, the committee would not sit down to let this “glorious” opportunity slip by, adding, “We will do all we can to get that support.”