We didn’t say people should stop drinking sachet water – Ghana Statistical Service
In addressing the controversy surrounding the wholesomeness of sachet water, Dr Peter Takyi Peprah, an Assistant Statistician and Director of Field Operations with the Ghana Statistical Service has sought to correct that erroneous impression by saying that the service never sought to discourage people from taking sachet water.
His clarification comes on the back of the rejection of the GSS observation regarding the quality and safety of the source of water used in the production of sachet water in Ghana by the Food and Drugs Authority and National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers.
A disturbing report gathered by the Ghana Statistical Service unravelled the presence of faecal matter contained in about 34.1 per cent of the water sources used in the production of sachet water.
This report led many including the media to question the quality of sachet water available in the market and also the effectiveness of the FDA’s supervision on such products which should be strict.
Dr Peprah during an interview on Citi FM indicated that the report was misinterpreted.
“That was not how the statement was made. We were given the platform to share our findings on the Population census, so far as water and sanitation are concerned. From the results, we realize that over 34.5% of the population in Ghana are currently taking sachet water, compared to the last census where we had only 21% of the population. Translating the 34.5% into absolute numbers, we had about 11 million of the population [depending on sachet water].”
Mr Peprah indicated that the whole idea for this exercise is to drum home the importance of effective monitoring in that regard since the product is highly consumed by the populace.
”What I said was that we needed to lift the game when it comes to inspection or monitoring so far as the production of water is concerned. In 2017, and 2018, we carried out surveys and realised from the survey that almost all water sources were contaminated. The various sources had faecal contamination to some extent. We have pipe-borne water, tube-well or borehole, protected well or spring bottle and sachet water.”
He reiterated this position saying ”The statement I made was that since over 11 million Ghanaians use sachet water, the FDA and Inspectorate Directorate should intensify their supervision. I even called for monitoring of the transportation of the water. No one said FDA is not doing its work, neither did we advise against the intake of sachet water.”
Ghanaians have also been advised by the FDA to only purchase sachet or bottled water that has the FDA product registration number and also not hesitate to report unregistered sachet or bottled water products at the nearest FDA office.
