Pharmaceutical Society partner MOH for universal health coverage

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) is ready to partner with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide primary health care nationwide.

In a statement to the mark 2019 World Health Day, the society said partnering with the health ministry and the World Health Organization would help towards attaining Universal Health Coverage in Ghana.

The statement said: “As we celebrate the 2019 World Health Day, the PSGH would like to draw attention of all stakeholders in healthcare and the public to the fact that pharmacists are ready to partner the WHO and the Ministry of Health to fully support and participate in primary healthcare for the attainment of universal health coverage in Ghana.”

The theme for the Day is “Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere.”

The group also noted that the pharmacy council is currently working with all pharmaceutical training institutions to raise the qualifications needed to practice in the country.

According to them, this would position pharmacists to offer improved and expanded healthcare services.

“With these developments, the knowledge, skills and competences of pharmacists in the country would be enhanced to position them to offer improved and expanded healthcare services to improve access and ensure universal health coverage through primary healthcare delivery, the statement added.

It has also emerged that, only 37 percent of the country’s population is covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana is however worried that despite the substantial improvement in health delivery in Ghana, some vaccine-preventable disease are still on the rise.

It is, therefore, courting for support to see to the eradication of such diseases to decrease the health burden of the country.

“Over the years, steady progress has been made in the improvement of health globally and in Ghana. This has led to an increase in life expectancy, a reduction in infant and maternal mortality, and a decrease in the incidence of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, among others. Poliomyelitis, which was once a feared disease, could be next to be eradicated. Currently, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 per cent from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries in 1988, to 33 reported cases in 2018”.

“There’s the need to work towards tackling this double burden of disease by getting more people vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases, health promotion and the effective treatment of non-communicable diseases,” the statement stated.

 

Source: Citinewsroom