Addressing congregants of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry (DLCM) Easter retreat in Wa, Mr Kelvin Dafaari Sunkpal, the Upper West Regional Head of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), admonished them against tramadol abuse since it was a prescription-only drug for the management of severe pains.

He said tramadol was not expected to be sold in Over the Counter (OTC) chemical shops except pharmacies and should only be sold based on prescription by a qualified medical practitioner.

“We are aware that now people sell this tramadol at mobile money joints and provision shops and FDA can’t be everywhere, so we are entreating the general public to give us information on the illegal sale of these things,” he explained.

He appealed to the congregation to report the illegal sale of tramadol to the Authority for the necessary action to be taken against the perpetrators.

Scores of people from some districts in the Upper West Region, including the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, Nadowli-Kaleo, Wa East and Wa West Districts and the Wa Municipality, among others, who attended the retreat were sensitised on food safety, tobacco and tobacco products use and substance abuse.

The FDA engaged all three categories of congregants at the retreat – the adult church, the campus and youth ministries.

The congregation was also sensitised to the tobacco regulations in Ghana, including prohibition of public smoking, provision of designated spots at public places for smoking and sending children to buy or light cigarettes.
He indicated that cigarettes without images of the health hazards of smoking were also not registered by the FDA and appealed to the people to report any person selling such cigarettes in their respective communities to the FDA.

Mr Sunkpal also expressed worry about the growing trend of “inye” (a local tobacco product) smoking as it was extremely dangerous and harmful to human health, saying, “Once you sniff it goes straight to the lungs.”

On food safety, he warned the public against the consumption of expired food, and medical or cosmetic products as there is no grace period for expired products.

While encouraging the people to check out for the expiring date of every product they bought for consumption, he debunked the notion that expired food products could be consumed within the next three months of the expiring date.

“The Manufacturer of the product has done his stability test and realised that this product can stay for this period, so once it is expired, it is expired, we shouldn’t think there is any grace period for expiring”, he explained.

He said the risk of people consuming unwholesome products was high during festive seasons and encouraged the congregants to look out for the expiring dates of pre-packaged food and food products and not to buy bloated, dented or rusted canned products.

The FDA Regional Boss also entreated the people to consider basic hygienic practices at restaurants and food joints such as the vendors’ cleanliness and the general environment before buying food.

He said they should be wary of unregistered FDA-regulated products on the Ghanaian market and mentioned the English language on the labeling as an indication that the product might be registered by the FDA.

Mr Sunkpal added that products that had images of human private parts on the labels and those purporting to treat Schedule 5 conditions specified in the Public Health Act such as HIV, infertility and epilepsy among others had not been registered.