The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has received assorted medicines worth $1.37 million from an international humanitarian organisation, Good Neighbors Ghana, to support healthcare delivery in the country.

The medicines include paracetamol, coartem, amoxicillin, albendazole and mebendazole, and are to be distributed to Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds in deprived communities across the country.

The Managing Director of Good Neighbors Ghana, Mr Elwon Seo, indicated that the donation was in line with a memorandum of understanding his outfit had signed with the GHS in June this year to supply essential medicines needed in CHPS compounds for five years.

“This is part of the organisation’s health system strengthening programme for the health sector of Ghana,” Mr Seo added.

He explained that the medicines were supplied based on a need-assessment conducted by the GHS.

“After the assessment, we found out that some of the CHPS facilities were in need of medicines. The most needed medicines are the five we presented,” he said.
Mr Seo further said there would be an annual joint monitoring to assess how the medicines would contribute to health service delivery in the beneficiary facilities.

Universal health coverage

The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the medicines would be equitably distributed to regions and districts based on the needs assessment.

He said the donation would complement efforts by the GHS to achieve universal health coverage in the country by 2030.

“Universal health coverage means that everybody must have access to quality care at an affordable price. For us in Ghana, you do not have to pay at a point of care,” he explained.

He encouraged the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Director of Pharmaceutical Services of the GHS, Dr Bismark Attah-Adjepong, said the medicines were highly needed at the level of care.

“For some time, there was no paracetamol in the system in Ghana. Also, because of COVID-19, the active pharmaceutical ingredients were not readily available in Ghana. So this donation has come at the right time to help us solve some of the pharmaceutical needs at the basic level,” he said.