Ho, Sept 14, GNA - The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) is to come out soon against spurious attributes to alcoholic beverages in advertisements.

Mr James Yarnie Lartey, Public Relations Officer of the FDB, said this at a forum in Ho on Wednesday on the temporal ban on advertisements of drugs and related products in the country.

He said it was unimaginable how an alcoholic beverage with 40 per cent alcoholic content could be put out to the public as good for consumption.

Environmental officers, local government workers, herbalists and health workers attended the forum. He said after several attempts through contacts with the National Media Commission (NMC), advertisers, the police and managers of media organisations, the FDB had decided to enforce the law regulating the advertisement of drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and household chemicals.

Mr Lartey said negotiations were going on with the police for the arrest of those who infringe the law, including peddlers in vehicles.

Mr Lartey said the decision had nothing to do with politics and that it was a process to get the right thing done.

Mrs Nora Narkie Terlabie, Zonal Officer of the FDB,

responsible for the Volta and Eastern regions, said dealers

needed certification of their products from the board. The dealers also needed to submit advertisements for

approval before they could go out with them. Mrs Terlabie said monitoring would be a continual one to

prevent situations where approved scripts and labels were

altered. Mr Eric Owusu, Assistant Regulatory Officer at the Volta

and Eastern Regions Zonal Office in Ho said there was 80 per

cent compliance with the ban. He said approved scripts would have to be revalidated

every year. Mr Christian Trebie Quao, Volta Regional Head of the

Pharmacy Council, advised the public against buying from

drug peddlers.