Health Authorities must Enforce Regulatory Frameworks on Health Harming Products

A Civil Society Status Report on National Non Communicable Disease Response and Landscape in Ghana says products like sugar-sweetened beverages, tobacco, and alcohol are still being smuggled into the country and are adding up to the already growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The report also shows that the rampant abuse and misuse of medicines and medical products including substandard and falsified medicines among the population is on the rise. This has led to ineffective treatment, thus complicating and prolonging ill-health and disease.

Adding up to the problems is the lack of monitoring systems to monitor minors’ exposure to health harming products. Minors, as identified in the report are involved in the commercialization of health harming products like alcohol, tobacco, especially shisha, among others and that there is little or no enforcement mechanism to monitor and prevent children and the youth from being used in these effects.

Also from the report, NCDs are largely developed because of inadequate implementation and enforcement of effective regulatory frameworks. For this reason, the Ghana Health Service, Food and Drugs Authority, and the Ghana Revenue Authority have been asked to enforce regulatory frameworks on health harming products to prevent their infiltration and commercialization on the Ghanaian markets.