Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr. Bawumia wants to make Ghana a pharmaceutical hub in the West African sub-region.
He has promised to do this by providing financial support and incentives to the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture medicines locally when given the opportunity to lead the country as president.
Dr. Bawumia, who is also the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), made the promise during an interaction with leadership and members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSG) in Accra yesterday, as part of his stakeholder consultations.
He pledged to implement policy frameworks to make the industry buoyant and beneficial to Ghanaians.
Currently, about 70 per cent of Ghana’s medicine supply is imported, with only 30 per cent manufactured locally. Dr. Bawumia, therefore, believes that Ghana has a comparative advantage in pharmaceutical services in the sub-region and would exploit it positively under his administration.
The NPP flagbearer also sided with the Society’s proposal for the establishment of a fit-for-purpose training centre for training pharmaceutical specialists.
He called for re-direction of government scholarships to much-needed skills, and believed that sponsoring pharmacists to specialise was essential to the nation whilst embracing the idea of establishing a pharmaceutical enclave or park to boost the manufacturing of essential medicines locally.
On tax incentives for the pharmaceutical sector, the Vice President reiterated his earlier pledge to implement tax reliefs for individuals and businesses under his administration, as well as flat tax rate and lower import duty to boost business transactions.
The NPP presidential candidate also welcomed an idea to review the medicine list of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) every six months in order to bring new medicines onboard.
On car waiver for pharmacists in the public sector, Vice President Bawumia responded positively to the Society’s request, and believed that with the Ghana Card providing unique identity, it could be implemented without abusing it.
Dr. Bawumia used the forum to highlight some of the policies the Akufo-Addo-led government had implemented in the health sector, including E-pharmacy platform that enabled people to purchase medicines online and Zipline medical drone technology, for quick delivery of essential medicines and blood products to remote areas.
Earlier, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr. Samuel Kow Donkoh, appealed to the NPP flagbearer to consider making community pharmacies a primary healthcare centre to undertake diagnosis and treatment of certain ailments.
He said government should take immediate steps to recruit pharmacists into the public sector since there had not been any recruitment of pharmacists in the past three years.
Dr. Donkoh also pleaded with Dr. Bawumia to consider sponsoring specialist pharmacists to improve their skills if elected as President of the Republic.
He asked the NPP flagbearer to consider implementing contract manufacturing pharmaceutical companies to enable Ghanaian pharmaceutical firms expand production of medicines domestically.
Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana were also given the opportunity to ask questions, made suggestions and proposed solutions to the challenges facing the sector.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent