By Maxwell Adu-Donkor
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) of Ghana plays a vital role in ensuring that the food we eat and the medicines we consume are safe, effective, and of good quality. Currently, the FDA operates through several divisions, including the Food Division, Health Products & Technologies Division, Technical Operations, and Corporate Services, as seen on its official website.
Decoupling
Despite its current internal structure, I believe it is time to pose a bold question: Should Ghana separate the Food and Drugs Authority into two autonomous agencies—the Ghana Food Authority and the Ghana Drugs Authority?
On the surface, the current setup appears adequate. After all, the Authority already has a dedicated Food Division and another focused on health products, including drugs. However, these are merely subdivisions within a single institution. They share the same leadership, budget, legal framework, and institutional mandate.
Imagine a Ghana Food Authority focused solely on food safety, labeling, nutrition, imports, and hygiene standards, especially within local markets and the expanding food service industry. At the same time, a Ghana Drugs Authority could address increasingly complex challenges such as counterfeit medicines, prescription drug regulation, herbal product safety, and pharmacovigilance.
Such a split could result in greater specialisation, faster and more efficient regulatory processes, improved transparency and accountability, and more job opportunities in public health, research, law, and administration.
Necessity
Some may argue that this move would be costly or unnecessarily complicated. But Ghana’s growing population, rising healthcare demands, and the increasing complexity of our markets suggest that a single regulatory body may no longer offer the depth of oversight each sector requires.
If a complete institutional separation is not immediately possible, the Food and Drugs Authority could begin by granting its divisions greater autonomy, with independent leadership and operational control under one regulatory umbrella.
This is not a call for duplication. It is a call for modernisation. As Ghana develops, our institutions must also evolve. A more specialised regulatory structure would better ensure that the food we eat and the medicines we take meet the highest standards of safety and quality.
Way forward
Ghana stands at a critical point where proactive reform can strengthen the credibility of public agencies. In other countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, and India, the adoption of sector-specific regulatory bodies has yielded significant results. In Nigeria, the responsibilities for food and drug regulation are handled by separate institutions. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) oversees the regulation of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, and chemicals, while the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) ensures quality control and standardisation across various products. This separation allows for greater specialisation and focused oversight.
South Africa presents a similar model, where the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), established in 2018, regulates medicines, medical devices, and health products, distinct from food safety functions, which are managed by the Department of Health’s Food Control Unit and the Department of Agriculture. This structural division enables each agency to concentrate fully on its specific area of regulation.
India also maintains this distinction, with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) responsible for food safety, and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in charge of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. These examples demonstrate that separating food and drug oversight can enhance regulatory effectiveness, transparency, and public trust.
But in all, I believe that, this transformation, if we are to consider, must be accompanied by strong stakeholder consultation, legal reforms, and strategic investment in capacity building. The goal is not to increase bureaucracy but to deepen oversight and boost public confidence in our regulatory systems.
Strategic
It is time to begin this conversation. A split between food and drug regulation is not just an institutional rearrangement, it is a strategic reform to meet today’s public health realities. Ghana deserves a regulatory framework that reflects the growing complexity of its food systems and healthcare needs. The question is not whether we can afford it, but whether we can afford not to. Ghana needs stronger and smarter institutions.
The writer, Maxwell Adu-Donkor, is a final-year student at the University of Ghana, majoring in Geography and Resource Development and Archaeology. He is passionate about institutional reform, public policy, and national development. Email: adumaxwell742@gmail.com
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