The flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has welcomed suggestions from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to turn community pharmacies into health centers to provide primary health care to the people.
According to the pharmacists, if implemented, it will save lives in communities where health centers are nonexistent.
Responding to the suggestion at a meeting with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana as part of his Connect with Bawumia tour, Dr. Bawumia, who’s the incumbent Vice President of Ghana, said the suggestion is laudable and that his government will consider it.
"Community pharmacies being designated as community health centers—this is a brilliant idea. For me, it will reduce the cost to us because a lot of simple things can be dealt with at the pharmacy level, and therefore you may not need to build so many facilities if you already have these community pharmacies. This is a good one, and I think we should embrace it and work with it. It is a simple idea,” he said.
The flagbearer stressed the need to take advantage of Ghana’s position in West Africa to turn it into a pharmaceutical hub.