An Associate Professor in Clinical Pharmacology at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Ghana Professor Alex Dodoo is under fire in Ghana’s Parliament for allegedly calling\u00a0Members of Parliament (MPs) “ignorant” over their comments regarding the Ebola vaccine clinical trial.<\/p>\n
The Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho, Majority leader Alban Bagbin, the Manhyia MP Matthew Opoku Prempeh and other members of the House harshly criticized the respected Professor for making comments thought to be contemptuous of Parliament.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”j4uFn2RR1SjlX8FlFIzpMQfEpswO5Z5Z”]The Speaker has since given an order, inviting Prof Dodoo to appear before the Privileges Committee for questioning over his alleged contemptuous comments.<\/p>\n
Background<\/strong><\/p>\n After Parliament waded into the vaccine debate and called for its suspension<\/a><\/strong><\/span> which was subsequently adhered to by the Health Ministry<\/a><\/strong>,<\/span>\u00a0some persons in the science community made their submissions on the matter.<\/p>\n A Research Coordinator at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Susan Adu Amankwah told Citi News<\/strong>, the position taken by the MPs stem from ignorance rather than due diligence.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n She argued that \u201cyour parliamentarians enacted a law, the Public Health Act, which gives powers to the FDA to look at everything concerning a clinical trial, did they not know that? Parliamentarians are enacting laws they have no knowledge about? That is so disappointing,\u201d she fumed.<\/p>\n The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in a statement also said\u00a0it had earlier\u00a0warned government<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>against trial before it became public.<\/p>\n Prof Dodoo on various media platforms criticized Parliament\u2019s decision to order to suspension of the trial.<\/p>\n He also said the Health Minister\u2019s directive for the trial to be put on hold was \u201cregrettable\u201d<\/p>\n The Professor is quoted as saying, \u201cIt is wrong on the path of the Minister to suspend the trials since the FDA is the agency mandated by law to give approval for clinical trials\u201d adding that the decision undermines the independence and integrity of the FDA, which is a respected African national regulatory authority.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe current brouhaha about the vaccine trials is a dent on the integrity and the professionalism of the several world renowned professionals in the country who have been providing technical assistance to countries all over the world including some developed countries.\u201d<\/p>\n He is again quoted to have said it was a shame that MPs were asking fundamental questions on the floor of the House such as whether the trial had been performed on mice and chimpanzee when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health could have easily obtained more clarity on the issue from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), which has been mandated to undertake such trials.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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