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A total of 4,738 Medicine Counter Assistants (MCA) across the country have written the Ghana Medicine Counter Assistants Certified Examination (GMCACE) instituted by the Pharmacy Council Ghana.
The examination, which follows a six-month training, forms part of the new licensing regime instituted by the Council for MCAs across the country.
The prospective MCAs who pass the examination will add to the 17,475 certified MCAs registered so far since the examination was instituted in 2020.
The Head of Education, Training and Research Department at the Pharmacy Council Ghana, Cynthia Yeboah Mintah, said the vision of the council was to guarantee the highest level of pharmaceutical care in the country.
"And that means ensuring that all pharmaceutical providers are competent, well trained and certified by the council to administer medication to all," she said.
She noted that for some time, people who practised MCA were usually in one way related to the owners of the pharmacies and not necessarily pharmacists' which had its own implications and that was why the council instituted the licensure examination so that everyone administering medicine in the country would have undergone training with certification.
Mrs Mintah employed that all pharmacies and hospitals that had persons operating as MCAs register and write the licensure examination to be certified for their field of work.
The Head of Education, Training and Research further mentioned that MCAs who had the very first licensure examination would have their certificate expiring in September and, therefore, called on them to register for a five-day refresher course to get their licence renewed and re-certified.
Although MCAs were now being licensed for practice, Mrs Mintah said they were still limited in administering medication and, therefore, called on all pharmacists to at all times supervise their work and ensure good and safe work practices.
She further called on all MCAs and pharmacy technicians to work within their limits with supervision from pharmacists.
"As a consumer, you also have the right to ask for the pharmacist present before you make purchases and it is something you should insist on for your own safety," she said.
