Pharmaceutical Society fears economic crisis may negatively affect public health

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has expressed concern that the current economic downturn would have a negative impact on the health of patients.

PSGH in a statement noted that the current situation has reduced the import and manufacturing capital of companies which therefore raises a big issue of security of medicines in the country.

The statement from President of PSGH, Samuel Kow Donkoh, was in response to the joint press conference by the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy (GNCoP), Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) and Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association (PIWA) on Thursday, October 19,2022.

At the conference, the pharmaceutical group decided to supply medicines solely on cash basis due to the prevailing economic situation.

But the Pharmaceutical Society replied that “there is the risk of medicines availability, lack of access to medications, increase in price of medicines, potential compromise of quality of medications and the potential increase in fake and substandard medications.”

PSGH, in their statement also outlined the following health risks should the current trend of economic crisis persist:

1. There is the risk of drop in the offering of services by NHIS Service providers.
2. The risk of shortages and therefore unavailability of pharmaceuticals which will impact on progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
3. To the Community Pharmacists, the cost of replacement of stocks is a major issue as they need recapitalization to maintain their dwindling stocks.
4. Hospitals would be faced with shortages of medicines as they are dependent on credit from suppliers. This will impact on emergency medicines, anaesthetics as well as life- saving medicines.

The Pharmaceutical Society therefore recommended that “the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana urgently work with the Ghana Association of Banks to prioritize the pharmaceutical sector and support them with forex solutions and loans at preferential rates to ensure the availability of medicines.”

As a matter of urgency, the PSGH further called on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to reimburse NHIS Service Providers to enable them make outstanding payments due suppliers.

The statement concluded that PSGH would be convening a meeting with all the relevant stakeholders to find out how support can be given to PMAG, PIWA and the Community Pharmacies.