CDD-Ghana questions the legality of procuring vaccines through middlemen

• Ghana has procured Sputnik V vaccine through middlemen

• CDD-Ghana has reacted to the legality of such a move

• They, however, believe that the FDA will only endorse safe vaccines

Pharmacist and Fellow of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Kwame Sarpong Asiedu has registered his pleasure at Ghana using middlemen to procure COVID-19 vaccines.

According to him, there is the need to have a conversation about the legality of the procurement rather than the quality of vaccines.

Speaking on Joy News, Mr Sarpong said he trust the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to ensure the quality of products on the Ghanaian market.

“Ghana has one of the more robust regulatory authorities when it comes to medicines in Africa,” he said.

However, he was concerned about the country contracting middlemen, a situation he says could create some legal bottlenecks for the country in the future.

The pharmacist further said, “the issue with the middle man is not about the FDA not doing their job, it is about that middleman not having a contract with the local holder of the Emergency User Authorization, that’s where the issue is.

“The issue is not about quality; it is about legality. So if I register a product in Ghana and it’s within patent, if you want to bring it into Ghana, I either bring it myself, or I can franchise someone to bring it, or the manufacturer, in this case, it is Sputnik, the Russian development fund can bring it on behalf of somebody.

“If a 3rd person is bringing it because the regulation doesn’t allow you to register the product twice in the same country, then there are regulatory issues and legality issues there.”

He stated that without a legal contract between the Emergency Use Authorisation holder and the middleman, any adverse event post-immunization would have to be borne solely by the Ministry of Health.

“What I will say is that yes, the FDA will do all that, but another thing that the FDA would have to ensure is the collation of the adverse events post-immunisation, which is the responsibility of the person who holds the emergency use authorization that is where the real issue will be,” he said.