Heavily polluted water owing to illegal mining (galamsey) activities, is making it increasingly expensive for pharmaceutical companies to treat water for the manufacturing of drugs and medicines. 

Dr Samuel Kow Donkor, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH), who made this known, said water pollution was one of the gravest threats confronting public health. 

“Ghana currently enjoyed self-sufficiency in the local production of infusions, but illegal mining threatened this achievement.  

All the local manufacturers put together in this country can produce all the intravenous infusions we need in Ghana. 

However, they need quality water to do that. 

If this environmental degradation continues, we may soon face the grim reality of importing water to support our local manufacturing industry,” he declared at the opening of the 2024 annual general meeting of the PSGH in Kumasi. 

He said the pollution from these mining activities was so severe that expensive technologies were often required to treat the water, which had contributed to the cost of medicines. 

A report has estimated that five tons of mercury are released annually from small-scale mining operations in Ghana. 

“This toxic burden is unacceptable.  

We call on the government to take urgent, decisive action to put an end to this lawlessness. 

We must protect our environment, our water, and the future of our local industries before it is too late,” he stressed.  

Dr Ekow Donkor said the destruction of forest reserves threatened the mere existence of medicinal plants and being able to integrate plant medicines, the environmental destruction needed to cease. 

The meeting was held on the theme “Pharmacists: Meeting Primary Health Care Needs.” 

Pharmacists as part of the meeting will discuss issues bothering their welfare, and how to maximise the production of effective medicines for existing and emerging ailments among other things. 

The PSGH proposed the formal integration of community pharmacies into Ghana’s primary healthcare architecture.  

They believed leveraging the extensive network of community pharmacies would enhance patient care and generate economic benefits that supported the sustainability of the healthcare system. 

 Pharmacists could play a crucial role in achieving universal healthcare by providing patient-centred care, optimising the use of medicines, and improving health outcomes.