Women in Ghana have been warned against a growing trend for taking pills during pregnancy to lighten the skin of their unborn babies while they are still in the womb.
Medical experts say these illegal drugs can cause birth defects, including damage to limbs and internal organs.
Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says using Glutathione pills for this purpose is dangerous, adding it wants “the general public to know that no product has been approved by the FDA in the form of a tablet to lighten the skin of the unborn child”.
The practice is growing in Ghana, according to the FDA, with pills often smuggled into the country inside luggage at airports in large quantities.
Security agencies and police are working together to arrest and prosecute companies and individuals in possession of the illegal tablets.