The Pharmacy Council has stepped up its effort to stop the sale of medicines by the unauthorised and the untrained to protect the safety of the people.

As part of this, it has organized training for 114 newly registered over-the-counter medicine sellers from across the 11 municipalities and districts in the Upper West Region.

The goal was to aid them to operate within the confines of the law – to have a clear understanding of what they could do and what they could not do – the class of medicines they could stock and sell.

The over-the-counter seller could not for example stock prescription-only medicines like Tramadol.

Madam Cynthia Yeboah Mintah, acting Head of Education, Training and Research Department of the Council, said more should be done to help everybody to stop buying non-prescription medicine from unauthorized and untrained persons.

The health risk to the user could be severe and they should be assisted to avoid this.

Madam Yeboah Minita underlined the determination of the Council to make sure that pharmacy practice was properly and efficiently regulated for consumers’ safety.

It would continue to carry routine inspections to satisfy itself that the right things were done.

Offenders of the law would not only have their licenses revoked or suspended but could face prosecution.