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The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH), in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals of Johnson and Johnson, has launched a worm infestation awareness campaign in Accra.

The campaign, which is also in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES), is intended to educate more than 10,000 children between the ages of six and 12 across the country on the dangers of worm infestation and the need for good sanitation and hygiene practices.

As part of the campaign, a drawing and poetry competition has been designed to educate the children on worm infestation.

The launch of the campaign also coincided with the launch of the 2017 World Pharmacists Day.

A joint ceremony to launch the campaign, as well as the 2017 World Pharmacists Day, was held at the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) Cluster of Schools at Teshie in Accra last Friday.

The World Pharmacists Day is marked every September 25. The theme for this year’s celebration is: “From Research to Health Care: Your Pharmacist is at Your Service”.

Other activities to mark the celebration include counselling and drug education programmes, donations and health screening.

Fighting worm infections

At the ceremony, the Ghana Country Manager of Janssen, Ms Priscilla Owusu Sekyere, said diseases from parasites and worm infestation, such as guinea-worm and other neglected tropical disease, imposed heavy burdens on the population, especially schoolchildren.

“This has serious impact on school attendance, grades, childhood growth and cognitive development, leading to high levels of disability and loss of productivity”, she stated.

For that reason, she said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended interventions, including focus on improving environmental factors such as clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

She added that because of that development Janssen was collaborating with the other stakeholders to empower schoolchildren on sanitation and hygiene to enable them to fight worm infestation.

“Have personal pharmacist”

For his part, the President of the PSGH, Mr Benjamin Kwame Botwe, said the campaign was an indication of the PSGH’s continuous efforts to position the association as a key partner in promoting good health in Ghana.

Touching on the theme for the celebration of the World Pharmacists Day, he said it was very important because it highlighted the critical role of pharmacists and engaged them on the responsible use of medicines and health promotion.

He urged the public to endeavour to have personal pharmacists who they could call upon anytime for advice, counselling and health information, particularly on medications they took either prescribed or over the counter.

“We urge everyone to demand to see the pharmacist anytime you visit a pharmacy”, he advised.

While commending the role of pharmacists in health care system, Mr Botwe called on the government to continue to support the efforts of the society by improving working conditions of pharmacists in the country.

Investigations needed

On the recent media report of a 10-year-old boy who was reported to have died after he had taken a 75 milligramme of Naklofen administered to him at the Tema General Hospital, Mr Botwe called for investigations into circumstances leading to his death.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyemang Manu, commended those behind the campaign, saying “this innovative model of collaboration and local empowerment among Janssen and Ghanaian pharmacists and our schoolchildren us a laudable one.”

The efforts, he said, would help wipe out preventable worm infestation.