FOOD AND DRUGS AUTHORITY (FDA) SENSITIZES STAFF OF BONO RCC ON FDA OPERATIONS

The management of the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in collaboration with Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) organized food and drug safety education and sensitization durbar for the staff of Bono Regional Coordinating Council. The durbar was aimed at educating the staff on food and drug safety in Ghana, to educate staff on the scope of work of the Food and Drug Authority and to educate staff on FDA regulated products.
The sensitization durbar took place at Bono RCC Conference Room in Sunyani on Friday, 16th August, 2024.
Mr. Andrews Mensah, the Regional Coordinating Director and Chief Director of Bono RCC in his opening remarks emphasized the need for the durbar and urged staff present to ensure maximum corporation during the durbar. He reaffirmed management commitment to organize durbars periodically to equipped staff with the requisite knowledge from different Agencies /organizations. He advised staff to take notes of the education.

The facilitators from the Food and Drug Authority were Mrs. Francisca Patoah Agyarko, Principal Regulatory Officer and Ms. Rita Aboagye, a staff of FDA.
Mrs. Francisca Patoah Agyarko, in her initial remarks thanked the Chief Director, Management and staff for given them such opportunity to educate and sensitize the staff on Food and Drug Safety and also create awareness on the scope of work of the Food and Drug Authority.
She took the participants through a presentation on the scope of work of Food and Drug Authority.

Mrs. Agyarko highlighted FDA regulated products which include Allopathic medicines, Herbal medicines, Household chemicals, Cosmetics, Food, Blood & blood products Vaccines and Tabaco products.
She outlined the scope of work of the Food and Drug Authority as follows: Registration of products, Market surveillance, Facility Licensing (manufacturing, storage food service Establishment), Product advertisement regulation.
Mrs. Agyarko said that registration of products both local and international products in Ghana go through rigorous checks before it’s registered into market. She advised that there are unregistered products in the markets and people need to be cautious not to patronize these products.
Again, she mentioned that the FDA take keen interest in market surveillance to randomly check on the condition of the market products and also check fake products on the market.
In her conclusion she outlined that, stakeholders such as Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Local Government Ghana Revenue Authority, and Media have been helpful in the operation of the FDA.

She ended her presentation with questions and answers on from the participants on Aphrodisiac products, animal processing, mineral Water production, Salt production and Tobacco products.
Mr. Alexander Bae-Yeboah, a Deputy Director at Bono RCC gave the closing remarks and thanked the FDA for the insightful education on their activities. He thanked the management for organizing such an important durbar to sensitize the people. He recommended that the education must be spread to the public.



