The Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Nana Amo Tobbin I, has urged Ghanaians to patronise locally manufactured products, especially medicines produced by the Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre, a subsidiary of the Group.
That, he believes will create employment for the youth in the country and as well help save the country’s foreign exchange.
He also noted that patronising made- in- Ghana products will help retain the profit margins in the country and limit importation of products.
Nana Amo Tobbin I, who is also the Chancellor of the Entrance University College of Health Sciences made the call at the Launch of the Entrance Month in Accra on Monday, June 7, 2021.
The Entrance Month, which is usually commemorated in June every year, focuses on the distribution of and creating awareness of the quality and affordable products by the Entrance Pharmaceuticals Company and Research Centre, especially Lufart which is an anti-malaria product.
This was the second edition of commemorating the Entrance Month.
Speaking at the event, Nana Amo Tobbin I, observed that 70 percent of the products displayed at pharmacy shops are mostly imported while 30 percent are locally manufactured.
“What we can do to bridge the gap is to encourage our citizenry to patronise made in Ghana products. We should believe in our own and we should buy our own,” he said.
He added,” When we patronise made- in- Ghana products, the profits remain here. Next month, we are going to launch a big edifice for our police service, we have put up a huge building for the police because this is our corporate social responsibility. When we get the margins in Ghana, we give it back to the society.”
Nana Amo Tobbin I, who is also the Gyantoahene of the Wassa Apinto Traditional Area, also appealed to the government to ban some of the products imported, especially the anti- malaria products.
He assured the government that local companies have the capacity to produce quality anti- malaria drugs, adding that they can produce enough and export some when they get government’s support.
“Anti-malaria products are common molecules like the Artemeter lumenfantraine that we buy from outside, now we have excess factories, we have all the companies here; we have over 50 Pharmaceutical plants in Ghana, so we can manufacture all the anti -malaria products that we use foreign exchange to import locally and save our foreign exchange,” he added.
The Tobinco Boss also debunked the notion that foreign products are of higher quality than that those that are locally produced.
“It is something that happened in the past. Maybe in the past, the standards were not meeting that of the imported ones, but now the story has changed. We have all the facilities and we are being monitored and regulated by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), so I think that, that perception is no more. Our qualities are equally the same or even above the imported ones,” he added.
He noted that Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre produces the best anti-malaria medicines in Africa.
He pointed Lufart as one of the best anti-Malaria products on the market, urging all to buy it when they test positive.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
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