A SURVEY conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) across the globe indicates that more than 50 percent of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately while half of all patients failed to take medicine correctly.
The survey has it that the overuse and misuse of medicines had harmed a lot of people and wasted many resources.
President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSG), James Ohemeng Kyei disclosed this at the 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association at Cape Coast on Wednesday.
The conference was on the theme �Rational use of medicine, a key to quality health outcomes.�
Pharmacist Ohemeng Kyei noted that less than 40 percent of patients in the public sector and 30 percent in the private sector in developing countries were not treated according to clinical guidelines.
He expressed concern about the way more than 50 percent of developing countries do not implement basic policies to promote rational use of medicine.
The president hinted that 49.4 percent of the Ministry of Health (MOH) budgets were spent on medicine and the PSG deemed it a national responsibility to deliberate on the theme in order to partner the MOH and all stakeholders to promote rational use of medicine.
�History and evidence are clear that the social, economic and clinical consequences of irrational use of medicines are enormous and dire for the patient, profession, the health system and ultimately the entire nation,� he said.
Pharmacy practice in Ghana is regulated by the Pharmacy Act 1994 which clearly spelt out requirements and procedures for practice and service delivery he noted adding that it was only pharmacists who had the training, skills and competence to provide higher standards in pharmaceutical care to patients.
He bemoaned the situation where nearly 16 out of 23 district hospitals in the Northern region do not have pharmacists and called on the ministry to urgently address this.
Deputy Minister of Health, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo reiterated that the country needed to focus on providing more dedicated patient oriented service.
He said health sector reforms which put Ghana on the global health map can be attributed to the successful management of its key precursor programme in the revolving drug fund.
The deputy minister commended the association for contributing its quota towards health care delivery as well as enriching the private sector through their profession.
�Pharmacy as a practice in Ghana is growing; we in the ministry have recognized that since your hard work has helped the country to enjoy a vibrant pharmaceutical sector and demand for expanded services has increased in the last few years,� he added.
He stressed the need for the two bodies to work together to maintain the effectiveness of the current strategy for essential drugs and to stimulate the development of medicine which placed the biggest burden on the health sector and the economy.
�We need to provide support for the implementation of a drug monitoring system in order to identify development of resistance, adverse reactions and misuse of drugs within the health system.�
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