Ghana’s Vice President calls for increased medicine production — MyJoyOnline

Ghana’s Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang called in Accra for expanding local pharmaceutical production to reduce the country’s dependence on imported medicines and improve access to essential drugs. MyJoyOnline reports.

She spoke at the opening of the annual general meeting and scientific conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, dedicated to the organization’s 90th anniversary. According to the vice president, expanding the capacity of local manufacturers will strengthen the healthcare system and help the country respond more effectively to changing medical needs.

Plan to increase the share of locally produced medicines

Opoku-Agyemang noted that Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies are already increasing their capacity to produce a wider range of essential medicines and pharmaceutical products. These include infusion solutions, injectable and ophthalmic medicines, as well as anesthetics.

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The Ghanaian government is implementing a five-year strategy that envisages increasing the share of locally produced medicines from 30% to 70%.

Manufacturers request financing

Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana President Paul Owusu Donkor supported the 70% target but said that sustained government support is needed to achieve it. He called for the five-year strategy to be turned into a funded implementation program.

Among the necessary steps, Donkor named predictable government procurement of Ghanaian-made medicines that meet quality requirements, timely payments to suppliers, and affordable long-term financing for manufacturers. The vice president also called on pharmacists to become more actively involved in countering the spread of chronic non-communicable diseases and to adapt regulation to the development of artificial intelligence, digital prescriptions, and changes in medicine supply chains.