The Pharmacy Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) have lauded the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for its role in the training of pharmacists and the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the country.
The commendation follows the introduction of a Doctor of Pharmacy degree by the KNUST to enhance the training of professionals for the pharmaceutical industry.
Authorities of the two institutions made the commendations when they paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. William Otoo Ellis.
The four-member delegation was made up of the Registrar and Head of Education and Training of the Pharmacy Council, Mr Joseph Nyoagbe, and Mr Daniel Amaning Danquah, while the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana was represented by the Vice President and Executive Secretary, Mr Godfred Kofi Abu and Dennis Sena Awitty, respectively.
Background
The KNUST has for the past 40 years been training students in the four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy degree for the Ministry of Health and private health institutions in the country.
Through a collaborative effort among KNUST, the PSGH and the Pharmacy Council of Ghana, a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programme was started in 2012 as a six-year course for further training of pharmacists for the country and the global market.
The Registrar of the Pharmacy Council, Mr Nyoagbe, who was the head of the delegation, said the interest and support shown by the KNUST towards the sector had helped the development of personnel for the industry locally and internationally.
Consensus building
He said the council had been in talks with all pharmacist training institutions and urged them to take a second look at the degree that they had been awarding prior to the introduction of the PharmD degree.
The Registrar indicated that the collaborative efforts were geared towards ensuring that pharmacists trained in Ghana measured up to the global standard.
Changing trend
The Executive Secretary of the PSGH, Mr Sena Awitty, said pharmaceutical practice globally was changing and so the introduction of the PharmD degree at KNUST was in the right direction.
He said he was very optimistic that after the completion of their course of study, the new pharmacists would be in the best position to work to ensure the safety, and the appropriate and cost-effective use of medicines.
Prof. Ellis said the university decided to change the programme and modify it to meet international standards.
He said as part of efforts to ensure that the programme ran smoothly, the university spent two years to train some staff on best practices.
Prof. Ellis said works on a five-storey building to support the programme would be completed by the end of the month to accommodate the first batch of students who were in the fourth year of their study.
The delegation toured the various structures and institutions to assess the state of affairs after which they expressed satisfaction with the level of development so far.
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