The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has rolled out a new digital platform to enhance efficiency and speed in responding to clients and stakeholders.
The system, known as the Ghana FDA Integrated Regulatory Management System (GFIRM), allows applicants to submit and track applications online without visiting the Authority’s offices.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Manso Opuni, indicated that the move was in response to concerns about delays in communication and approvals.
“With this platform, which became effective on August 1, you can now sit at home and do all your applications. At the click of a button, we will receive them and it’s not only with applications, it can be used for all the processes that we are involved in,” he explained.
The meeting, which brought together professional and trade associations, policy makers, development partners, academia and the general public, was to discuss ways of improving FDA’ efficiency to safeguard public health.
It was on the theme: ‘Improving productivity and Efficiency through Digitisation and Staff Commitment.”
Furthermore, Prof. Opuni indicated that the FDA was aligning its operations with the government’s proposed 24-hour economy to ensure timely regulatory decisions.
He said with the support of development partners, the Authority was expanding its infrastructure to enhance regulation and efficiency.
The CEO mentioned that a state-of-the-art “clean room,” funded by the European Union (EU) and BMZ, would be commissioned in November this year, while the Gates Foundation is supporting the construction of a molecular biology laboratory at Tema and upgrading the FDA’s laboratory information system.
A new data centre under the PharmaVax project, he emphasised, was also underway to secure applicant data.
Additionally, the CEO noted that Ghana’s WHO-prequalified and ISO-accredited laboratories had positioned the Authority as a trusted agency on African region, providing quality control testing for other African countries, including Ethiopia.
Touching on market surveillance, Prof. Opuni said that recent observations had shown a reduction in the adulteration of palm oil with Sudan dyes and an improved medicine quality on the market.
“Ultimately, we hope to get to a point where there will not be any substandard or classified medicine found on our market and we are committed to building on the gains made,” he assured.
A Director with the Public Enterprises Secretariat, Lovia Bamfo, noted that while the FDA’s mandate was foundational, the “ultimate responsibility of public health, rests on the shoulders of every Ghanaian.”
“The FDA has built a world-class framework by attaining requisite global certifications, including WHO’s maturity level 3 status but these frameworks are only as strong as our collective commitment to it. We are all guardians of our public health,” she noted.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH