The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has received a Truscan Raman hand held Spectrometer to strengthen its market surveillance and detection of counterfeit and sub-standard drugs.

The delivery of the equipment was made possible by the Canadian International Development Agency-sponsored Capacity Development Mechanism (CDM) pilot project of the Government of Ghana.

The project seeks to train staff in knowledge and skills for counterfeit intelligence and detection, coupled with information communication technology to drive effective market surveillance.

As part of the project, the CDM in conjunction with the FDA financed the procurement of two units of the Truscan Raman hand held Spectrometer at an estimated cost of 160,000 dollars

Mr Hudu Mogtari, Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, said the equipment was ready for use by trained FDA staff to control sub-standard, spurious, falsely-labelled/falsified counterfeit (ssffc) medicines on the market.

The World Health Organisation estimates that counterfeit drugs constitute up to 25 percent of total medicine supply in less developed countries.

In Africa and South Asia, a more detailed sampling found that 30 to 60 percent of medicines were su-bstandard.

Mr Mogtari said the equipment would facilitate the work of the FDA in its anti-ssffc measures, by improving the turnaround time of detecting counterfeits from a couple of days to a few seconds.

It would also facilitate the regulatory decision on the import of pharmaceutical raw materials and products regulated by the Authority at the port of entry.

“It is our hope that by the use of this new tool, the FDA will better serve the interest of the Ghanaian populace by reducing the menace and the impact of ssffc in Ghana,” Mr Mogtari said.