The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has embarked on a nationwide community swoop aimed at addressing the increasing abuse of opioids across Ghana.
The operation is being carried out in collaboration with the Narcotics Control Commission, GRA Customs Division, the Pharmacy Council, and the Ghana Police Service’s Drug Law Enforcement Unit.
Speaking to the media on Friday, April 11, following an intelligence-led operation in Tema and Ashaiman, Dr. Olivia Agyekumaa Boateng, the FDA’s Director of Tobacco and Substance Abuse, reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to protecting public health and safety.
She revealed the FDA plans to intensify collaboration with stakeholders and expand public sensitization efforts to combat the growing misuse of opioids.
“We are telling everybody that we are coming at them. This is affecting our youth, and we are coming at them with a lot of strategies, apart from the public education that we are doing on the dangers that these drugs have on their daily lives,” she stated.
Dr. Boateng emphasized the importance of removing illicit drugs that have already infiltrated the market, which she said are fuelling the growing abuse.
“It is important to raid the market of what has already entered the country that is fuelling the abuse. We are also going to ensure that there is strict broader control. Then we are collaborating with mental health, so that already addicted persons can receive some form of psycho-support,” she added.
