The Chamber of Pharmacy Ghana has renewed its campaign to get government to scrap Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported medicines.

According to the chamber, previous attempts to get the charges removed only yielded a 10 percent reduction in import duty.

Speaking to Class Business on the sidelines of a sensitisation programme by the chamber, the Chairman of the National Executive Council of Chamber of Pharmacy, Harrison Kofi Abutiate, said although other taxes were levied on medicines, scrapping VAT charges would help bring down the cost of medicines in the country while at the same time alleviating the burden on importers.

“We feel that by getting rid of the VAT, the advantages that they will get, they will reduce the government bill and also they will be in a position to pay the suppliers so that they can in turn be paying the government. Countries around us have all removed VAT on the cost of drugs,” he stated.

“The government itself is buying drugs or medicines plus VAT so it is increasing its own medicine bill, so we are drawing the attention that we know why they are bringing VAT – to generate money to support government projects. But at the same time, they are buying those drugs and putting them on the National Health Insurance Scheme and then the prices go up…and in doing that, they are unable to pay the suppliers on time.”