U. E. Minister Woos Health Professionals

Mr. Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister, has used the opportunity of a chance meeting with pharmacy students to sell his region to health professionals.

He assured health professionals that if they accept posting to the region, they would have good accommodation and means of transport to make life enjoyable for them.

At the back of his mind was the low numbers of health professionals in the region

Mr. Woyongo said this at Bolgatanga, during the launch of the drug safety campaign of the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association.

The objective of the programme was to ensure the availability of quality pharmaceutical services and also curb the peddling of medicines across the country, especially in rural communities.

Mr. Woyongo commended the students for organising such a programme and said they would be given the needed support to reach out to many people in the region.

Mr. Bright Djan Danquah, president of the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association (GPSA), urged his colleagues to devote themselves completely to the educational campaign, so that it would have a positive impact on the people.

He noted that the rural people suffered a lot of avoidable health problems due to ignorance and unavailable health care needs, and so they should be given special attention to make them aware of what is good for them.

The Drug Safety Campaign is an annual event organised by the GPSA and the Ghana Herbal Medical Students Association to promote good health and rational use of drugs by way of educating and sensitising the people of the communities chosen.

The students would spend one week to visit and educate people in churches, mosques, schools, market places, organised groups and some communities in the region.

It is a strategy adopted by the Council to enhance people’s access to medicines and employ regulation as a development tool to improve geographical access to pharmaceutical services in the country, especially in deprived areas by adopting multi-pronged strategies, and taking into consideration trends worldwide and possible options within the socio-cultural settings.

Mr. Joseph Nyoagbe, Registrar of the Pharmacy Council, said the main objective of the programme was to ensure the availability of quality pharmaceutical services and also curb the peddling of medicines across the country, especially in rural communities.

He said the council had been concerned about the way some miscreants sold all sort of medicines on the streets, markets, bus stops and other places, which could pose a great threat to the general well-being of the populace, as some took the opportunity to deceive innocent people by selling either expired or counterfeit medicines.

Dr. James Akpablie, Deputy Regional Director of Health Services, noted that irrational use of drugs among prescribers and dispensers decreased public confidence in the health care system and the demand for health services by people who need the services.

Mr. Mark Woyongo, who launched the campaign appealed to the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) to check the sale of drugs alongside other goods like provisions, with no regard to the appropriate storage conditions, which is being done in the rural communities.