The Ghana Health Service Supply Chain Practitioners Association has bemoaned some challenges confronting the Association due to the current economic hardship.

At its 14^th Annual General meeting in Kumasi on Friday, November 4, the National President of the Association, Stephen Sakyi noted that the supply of certain medical products has become a challenge as suppliers have demanded an upward adjustment in prices.

“We are looking at the current economic crisis, we all know what is happening. The sad thing is that tenders that were floated, suppliers that bought tenders from the facilities that said they will supply this and that have all come back and written to all the facilities that there should be upward review of prices or they cannot supply. Some will not even reply or they will not supply at all,” he said.

He disclosed that currently, most public health facilities have not been allocated any funds to procure non-medicine consumables.

“This is creating a lot of issues in the system now, because when you go to the facility now, sometimes you might not even get simple gloves for the staff to use because the funding is not there and even the service charge that insurance pays is woefully inadequate.”

https://www.myjoyonline.com/medicines-to-be-sold-on-cash-basis-until-economy-stablilises-pharmacists/

Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has described the situation as disturbing.

Last month, the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy announced that medicines will be sold on cash basis until the economy stablilises.

The President of the Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association, William Adum Addo at a press conference said they cannot afford the exorbitantly high cost of medicine.

“All transactions with immediate effect shall be on cash basis until the economy stabilises,” he stated.

General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Titus Beyuo believes the decision by the National Chamber of Pharmacy has accounted for the disruption in the supply of medicines.

“This has come to our notice. We cautioned the nation earlier when the Pharmaceuticals Importers Association threatened that they were not going to supply the hospital on credit anymore and I think this is a result of that because when they do not supply on credit and we are giving the drugs to the patient on credit, who will pay?...we will have a supply gap and I think that is what is accounting for that,” he told JoyNews.