Offinso (Ash), May 3, GNA--The government is considering the introduction of special incentives including financial, material and career development packages to motivate more health professionals to work outside the urban areas.

Mr Charles Martey-Akrasu Kpabitey, Deputy Minister of Health who announced this, said the government is aware of the hardships the professionals face when they opt to work in the rural areas, hence the new incentive package.

Mr Kpabitey was launching this year's "National Drug Awareness Week" at Offinso on Tuesday. The Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association (GPSA) and the Offinso District Assembly jointly organised the week-long programme under the theme: "The role of the student pharmacist in health care and self-medication", as part of the week celebrations of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The Deputy Minister noted that as students, the rural areas are where they find their role in bringing health care to the majority of the population but regretted that about 70 per cent of all pharmacies and drug outlets are located in the urban areas.

He said as a result, widespread availability of prescription drugs from itinerant peddlers, market stalls and unqualified drug sellers pose a special problem since these are the only sources of health care for a majority of the population, especially those in the rural areas.

Mr Samuel Nuamah-Donkor, Ashanti Regional Minister, in an address read on his behalf, said drug abuse and misuse pose a serious threat to human survival and socio-economic development.

He said it is in the light of this that every country is anxious to eradicate or control the drug menace since it is estimated that 190 million drug users are found around the world today.

The Regional Minister said one of the priorities of the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (ARCC) and the country as a whole is the intensification of health education within the region due to the galloping rate of the HIV/AIDS menace in Ghana.

He noted that lack of awareness among the public has been identified as one of the factors that is enhancing the problem of drug abuse and stressed that a programme of health education campaign involving all sectors is therefore necessary to make the public more knowledgeable in the use of drugs.

Mr Nuamah-Donkor called on Ghanaians to show concern towards the government's efforts to deal with this social and economic canker which is eating deep into the society.

Mr Ofori Tenkorang, president of GPSA, said since 1976, the association has embarked on health education campaigns by organising several programmes including the "national drug safety week" and the "national drug awareness week" in several parts of the country.

He said under this year's programme, 10 students from the Faculty of Pharmacy of KNUST would stay within the Offinso District to educate the people at the market-places, homes and workplaces on the effects of drug abuse for a week. Dr Joseph Oduro, Offinso District Director of Health Services, in a welcoming address, called on Ghanaians to avail themselves of the services provided by clinics and hospitals dotting the country instead of consulting quack doctors.

He said they should report all ailments promptly to these health institutions, which are manned by qualified personnel while the Pharmacy Council intensifies its monitoring of the operations of the pharmacy shops and the chemical shops in the country. He appealed to pharmacists in the chemical shops not to concentrate only on making profit but they should also focus on the efficacy of the drug and its correct use by their customers.