The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a leading pharmaceutical company, Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited, Mr Samuel Amo Tobbin, has called on Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to bring all players in the herbal industry under strict control for the standardization of their products to ensure an active and healthy population for the development of our country.
The Deputy General Manager and Researcher for Entrance Pharmaceuticals, and Research Center, Evelyn Offei speaking on behalf of Mr Samuel Amo Tobbin at the College of Health Sciences’ 3rd Biennial Scientific Conference in collaboration with H3 Africa and University of Ghana @70, said there are still a large number of herbal practitioners who operate without licenses from regulators, therefore , there is the need to bring all players in the herbal industry under strict control by the regulatory agencies for the standardization of their products to ensure an active and healthy population for the development of our country”.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) over the past years has cautioned members of the Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioners against the use of unregistered medical devices, whether imported or locally manufactured.
Mr. Tobbin said, “The available studies have also shown that herbal medicine has side effects and is a cause of the rise in CKD in Ghana. Alternative herbal medicine in Ghana has undergone a rapid positive change over the past two decades due to the introduction of a degree programme in herbal medicine at KNUST, the excellent work being done by the Centre for researchers into Plant Medicine at Akropong and the involvement of the Food and Drugs Authority.
“Bringing the academia, regulators, practitioners and major stakeholders together under one roof to proffer solutions to a very important health issue like Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Ghana is commendable and worthy of emulation, It is my prayer that we would see more of such blending of Academia and industry for the total development of our homeland Ghana”, he said.
According to him, the situation is dire because the kidney is vital to the very existence of man.
“They perform essential functions of removing waste products from the blood and regulations the water fluid levels. According to the Kidney Association, by the end of 2017, only five (%) out of the ten regions in Ghana had dialysis every year, only 686 individuals were on renal replacement treatment for dialysis,” he added.
He disclosed that the remaining three thousand, three hundred and fourteen patients with CKD cannot afford to pay at least GHC300 per session for dialysis.
“There is burgeoning evidence that over one million people worldwide have developed an end-stage renal disease and need renal replacement therapy such as dialysis and transplantation. Diabetic and hypertensive nephropathies are the two major kidney conditions that drive the kidney to end-stage renal disease, which to a large extent are determined by genetic factors,” Mr. Tobbin said.
Ghana | Atinkaonline. com | Hughes Boateng