Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed plans by government to make Ghana a pharmaceutical hub in the West African sub-region.
According to him, government is working hard with stakeholders and other foreign partners to come up with interventions that would position the country’s pharmaceutical industry at the centre in the ECOWAS community.
So far, interventions such as exempting selected imported pharmaceutical products from Value Added Tax (VAT) and the expansion of the list of raw materials exempted from VAT to accommodate additional inputs to support the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry are being worked out.
Additionally, he added that Exim Bank Ghana has also extended additional funding to some local pharmaceutical companies to build new plants and to bring the level of their production to international quality standards.
These interventions, the vice president highlighted, are contributing positively to the development of the sector.
Dr. Bawumia made this assertion when he addressed the 83rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) at Ho Technical University, Volta Region.
The vice president also mentioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are getting involved in removing trade barriers and promoting Ghana’s pharmaceutical industry and its products within the ECOWAS region.
To make these interventions worthwhile and create wealth, he said government would work with relevant financial institutions to fund local industries to enable them to compete internationally and ensure that at least 60 per cent of medicines consumed in Ghana are produced locally.
To ensure high patronage of locally produced drugs, a framework has been designed to ensure the Ministry of Health (MoH) procures more locally manufactures drugs.
He also hinted of government’s commitment to earmarking a zone within a suitable location to be developed into an industrial park exclusively for pharmaceutical industries.
Dr. Bawumia assured Ghanaians that government would do everything possible to fix the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
 From Fred Duodu & Collins Anku, Ho