Knowledge is power

IMANI’s attention has been drawn to the perennial problem of counterfeit medicines in the country. IMANI has been championing the urgency to consider alternative systems of sifting genuine medicines from counterfeit ones and effectively tracing their source. Based on our previous and current research on this trend, we believe this issue presents a serious challenge to the pharmaceutical industry and to public health in general and needs serious attention from all stakeholders. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 30% of drugs are compromised in West Arica. The pace at which this illegitimate industry is growing is also alarming. Worldwide, it is estimated that there is a 13 percent annual growth rate, twice as fast as the growth of legitimate drugs. Ghana is not a different case. The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has warned of the presence of counterfeit versions of the anti-malarial drug, artesunate, on the market. This recent report on counterfeit drugs is not the only on...

Some tomato farmers in the Nabdam District in the Upper East Region have turned to cultivating marijuana, Joy News has learnt. The farmers claim they are tired of the annual post harvest losses and the bad weather conditions they endure cultivating tomatoes. In 2008, some farmers were reported to have committed suicide after the tomatoes they cultivated ended up in the dust bin. They did not get market for the produce which are highly perishable. This was after they had taken soft loans from banks to facilitate their business. One of the farmers who wants to remain anonymous took Joy FM's Upper East Regional correspondent Joseph Osei round huge tracts of marijuana farms being cultivated by the farmers along the banks of the Volta lake. They claim the marijuana cultivation is more lucrative, even though it is illegal. Joseph Osei notes the location of the farms makes it difficult for police personnel to identify the type of business the farmers are engaged in. The regional cr...