Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has appealed to the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and all relevant stakeholders to extend pharmaceutical services to deprived communities in the country.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Ghana Pharma Awards held at Movenpick Hotel Friday, the vice president said most rural communities do not have any means of having access to pharmaceutical services delivery unless they travel long distances.

He added that the unfortunate development impedes the objective of making healthcare delivery easily accessible to all Ghanaians, with ramifications for the attainment of the SDGs

“Mr. Chairman, while acknowledging the support of the pharmaceutical society in helping improve healthcare delivery in the country, permit me to bemoan the fact that most of our rural communities do not have any means of having access to pharmaceutical services delivery unless they travel long distances. This development impedes the objective of making healthcare delivery easily accessible to all Ghanaians, with ramifications for the attainment of the SDGs,” the vice president said.

Dr Bawumia also urged all the players in the Pharmaceutical sector, including the private sector, to pull resources together to turn Ghana into a vibrant pharmaceutical research and development and production hub not only to support healthcare delivery but also to provide jobs and its associated benefits to millions in Ghana.

“It is about time we earmarked a zone within a suitable location to be developed into an industrial park exclusively for pharmaceutical industries. This will lead to a generation of modern pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities which would be in most competitive position to meet all current international Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards including the WHO-Prequalification standards and to produce high quality affordable medicines not only for local consumption, but also for export into the world market” Dr Bawumia said.

The vice president disclosed that government was currently looking at the Ghana Pharmaceutical Sector Development Strategy document and will consider the proposal to set up a National Bio-equivalence Centre in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and other stakeholders.

Dr Bawumia commended various stakeholders in the industry for working on reducing prices of medicines on the National Health Insurance Scheme medicine list by 30%.

“I commend you for this noble effort and edge you to speed up with the process as His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana is in a hurry. It is believed that, this will help to ensure the financial sustainability of the Scheme and will also improve financial access to the citizenry,” He said.