The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana has proposed the designation of community pharmacies as primary healthcare centers as the country prepares for the next pandemic.
According to the Society community pharmacies have become the first point of access for medication in the wake of the devastation that the COVID-19 pandemic left in its wake.
The Society said their proposal is backed up by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s advocacy for vaccine distribution to community pharmacies in the United Kingdom.
As part of moves to protect the Ghanaian populace against COVID, pharmacies were designated as vaccination centers under the National Vaccine Deployment program.
Speaking at an event to mark the 2023 World Pharmacist Day on September 25, Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana Kwabena Asante Offei said pharmacists continue to play a key role in healthcare that include discovery, manufacturing, compounding, regulation, dispensing, and administration of medicines.
Kwabena Asante Offei said Pharmacists have also demonstrated expertise in disease prevention.
The 2023 World Pharmacist Day was celebrated on theme “Pharmacy Strengthens Health Systems.”
The Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana further highlighted the role pharmacists have played in tackling COVID-19.
He mentioned the American pharmacy teams, which provided over 350 million clinical interventions and Australian pharmacists who administered 9 million vaccinations as two examples of Pharmacists taking up the task of ensuring that COVID is entirely eradicated.
Story: Prince Ahenkorah/Radiogoldlive.com
