The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched the policy and guidelines for the National E-Pharmacy programme.
The initiative forms part of the government’s ongoing efforts to improve access to and delivery of health care to Ghanaians.
When fully operational in 2022, the E-Pharmacy programme is expected to transform access to pharmaceutical care in the country and make Ghana one of a handful of countries with a national scale e-pharmacy in the world.
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, the Vice President said the introduction of this cutting-edge health technology would help tackle at least four critical concerns in the healthcare system.
These include reducing the unacceptably high Pharmacist to Patient ratio, improving confidentiality and privacy of patient medical records; minimising wrong self-diagnosis and self-medication, and reducing counterfeit and substandard medication.
”This innovation in improving pharmacy access to our people through E-Pharmacy can be a game-changer in safeguarding the future of our youth and ensuring rational and responsible access to medicines on a scale we have not yet been able to achieve,” he said.
He said “While tackling inadequate infrastructure in the health sector, it is disheartening to see people spend so much time moving from one pharmacy to the other in search of medication.
“The innovation in improving pharmacy access to our people through E-Pharmacy can be a game-changer in safeguarding the future of our youth and ensuring rational and responsible access to medicines on a scale we have not yet been able to achieve.
“Today, we are adding to the growing list of digitized platforms. E-pharmacy should help us address concerns for the proliferation of fake drugs, because there will be a link to the database of the Food and Drugs Authority to authenticate the approval or otherwise of the medicines on offer; check unlicensed pharmacy operations; reduce disparities in the cost of medicines and tackle some of the major administrative and delivery issues that affect the practice of pharmacy.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
