The initiative called 'Medicines for All' (MED4ALL) is a digital supply chain platform which directly and transparently connects trusted Ghanaian manufacturers and importers of medicines to healthcare providers in the value chain.

The launching ceremony took place at the Hawa memorial Savior Hospital, a faith-based facility and a member of the CHAG at Osiem in the Abuakwa North municipality in the Eastern region.

CHAG is a network organisation of 345 health facilities and health training institutions owned by 27 different Church denominations and is partnering PharmAccess Foundation, a not-for profit health organisation and Medical Credit Fund (MCF) to implement the initiative.

Mr Peter Yeboah, Executive Director of CHAG, explained that the MED4ALL facilities would be supported with swift access to credit through the MCF in partnership with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and Fidelity Bank to pre-finance insurance claims reimbursement to enable facilities buy stock medicines without waiting for months to pay medicine suppliers.

Again, he said in order to do away with the trend, where for lack of medicines, clients to health facilities were given prescriptions to purchase outside the facility, the MED4ALL had a unique transportation and delivery system that made it possible for requests to be delivered within seven days.

Dr Maxwell Antwi, Country Director, PharmAcess, said currently the MED4ALL had 30 health CHAG facilities operating and four credible suppliers namely, Tobinco, Pharmnova, Ernest Chemist and Kinarpharma Pharmaceuticals limited on pilot basis.

He said, plans were advanced to scale up MED4ALL to all the CHAG facilities and open to other public and private facilities to reduce Ghana's burden as the 7th country in the world with fake medicines.

Opanyin Abraham Edusei, General Superintendent of the Savior Church, thanked CHAG and its partners for such a noble idea to ensure that CHAG facilities had timely supplies of quality medicines for its clients.

He said the MED4ALL would not only reduce the burden of fake medicines in the facilities, but would also ensure that the ordinary Ghanaian who visited their facilities would not be burdened with prescriptions to purchase drugs outside.