The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, on Friday entreated members of the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students Association (GPSA) to accept postings to rural communities after they completion their course, to help reduce drug misuse and abuse.
Mr Eric Opoku, underscored the need for the students to ensure professional discharge of their duties, while letting their training reflect
in their dealings with patients through good interpersonal relationship.
Mr Opoku made the request at the launch of the National Drug Safety and Health Awareness Campaign of the association in Sunyani.
It was on the theme: "Promoting National Growth and Development through the Campaign against Counterfeit Drugs, Ensuring Improved Rational Use of Medicines and Healthy Lifestyles."
The campaign aims at increasing awareness on how best medicine could be used to maximise therapy, reduce adverse drug reactions and the need to avoid the use of narcotic drugs.
Mr Opoku urged the students, as core stakeholders in the health care delivery system to devote themselves to the well-being of the communities they would be posted to by educating the people on sound health practices and disease prevention.
"You need to identify common health problems in the communities while working to create interventions to correct or prevent health issues you might discover," he added.
Mr Opoku said government is concerned about the challenges facing health workers and said "everything is being done to improve their
conditions of service as a means of motivating and retaining health professionals in order to curb the brain drain in the sector".
Mr Arnold Donkor, President of the Association, said this year the student body had committed itself to educate the public on the promotion of national growth and development through the campaign against counterfeit drugs.
He said it would also ensure rationale use of medicines in healthy lifestyles.
Mr Donkor said the overall aim of public education on drug use is to provide individuals and communities with information to foster skills and confidence, which would enable them to use medicine in an appropriate, safe and judicious way.
In an address read on his behalf, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, Minister of Health, noted that one of the objectives of the ministry this year is to improve the quality of clinical care, which requires the availability of effective, safe, high quality and cost effective medicines.
"In this regard it is the policy of the ministry of health to rid the national drug distribution channels of counterfeit or fake drugs.
"Counterfeit medicines are very dangerous and detrimental to public health in terms of human suffering and burden on the health services.
Patients may not respond as quickly as they should and in some instances may not respond at all.
"According to World Health Organisation, 32. 1 per cent of counterfeit medicines do not contain active ingredients," he said.
The health minister observed that combating counterfeiting of medicines at the national level is a shared responsibility involving relevant
government agencies such as Food and Drugs Board, Customs, Police, Pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, health professionals, consumers
and the general public.
He commended members of the association for the launch of the crusade against the menace of drug counterfeiting and pledged the ministry's support towards the programme.
Mr Kunbour appealed to the GPSA to inform licensed agencies mandated by the Pharmacy Council to carry on with the business of importation, wholesale and retail sale and distribution of medicines to procure their medicines from legitimate sources only.
"Procuring from legitimate sources will make drug counterfeiting unattractive and counterfeiters are likely to stop their nefarious
activities."
On curbing the scourge of narcotic drugs, the health minister, urged the association to partner the Narcotics Control Board to help spread the gospel against the use of the drugs, targeting particularly second cycle and tertiary level educational institutions, churches and mosques as well as transport owners.
He appealed to the association to brand and market healthy living by targeting specific population groups such as mothers, children, adolescents and adults with relevant messages on safe sex, healthy eating, safer driving, rest and recreation and a life free of addictives and substance abuse.