The objective of the one-day programme dubbed ‘Inhalational Anaesthetics,” held last Thursday in Accra, and attended by more than 92 anesthetic surgeons and medical professionals across the country was to educate them on the new trends in anaesthetics practice and management.

It was also to educate them on how they could economise the use of anaesthetics products to reduce the cost of healthcare in the country.

An anaesthetic is a product that prevents patients from feeling pain during health procedures such as surgery.

Opening the programme, the Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Lifesciences, Dhananjay Tripathi, said the symposium on anaesthetics formed part of his outfit’s commitment to promote the health and wellbeing of the people of Ghana.

He said Ghana was previously importing anaesthetics to promote healthcare in the country, but currently his outfit was producing anaesthetics products locally.

Mr Tripathi said Atlantic Life­sciences, a subsidiary of Phar­manova Limited, had constructed a $50-million plant at Ningo Prampram for the manufacturing of anaesthetics and other health­care products.

Mr Tripathi said his outfit had the capacity to produce all the anaesthetics needs of the country and mentioned some of the anaes­thetics products produced by the company as Isoflurane, Sevorflu­rane and Halothane.

Mr Tripathi said his outfit was the only company to produce such products in West Africa and sec­ond in Africa, after Egypt.

According to him, the Covid-19 pandemic has taught the country that it could not rely on imported health products to meet its health­care products.

Professor of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at Loma Linda University Health, Nitin Shah, who spoke on the topic “Inhalational Anaesthetic Agents: How to use them economically,” said anaes­thetics play critical role in health­care.

He said anaesthetics helped health professionals to conduct operations for patients.

Professor Shah urged medical professionals to use modern and quality anaesthetic products to promote the health of patients.

The Head of Anaesthesiology and Intesnsive Care of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and National President of Ghana Anaesthesiology Association, Prof. Kwasi Antwi-Kusi, commended the company for the symposium to educate anaesthetic professionals on the importance of anaesthetics in healthcare delivery.