President Akufo-Addo says the challenge posed by COVID-19, the Coronavirus virus that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), is an opportunity for the country to develop a strong and self-reliant pharmaceutical industry.
Addressing key representatives of the financial sectors and the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana at the Jubilee House in his opening comments before moving into a close door session, President Akufo-Addo said the country is extremely dependent on foreign-made things including pharmaceutical products and it does not send a good signal on the ability of ghana to deal with an unlikely surge in cases of COVID-19 in the country.
“We are far too dependent on things that are made abroad and are imported by us for use. We should be making most of the things we use in Ghana for ourselves” President Akufo-Addo said.
“Were there to be a surge, we have not got there yet, but were there to be a surge, in the incidence of this pandemic in Ghana, we will, unfortunately, discover that we are naked to deal with it” President Akufo-Addo added.
To this end, the President noted that he has called the captains of the Pharmaceutical industry to his office for a dispassionate discussion to find a lasting solution to the challenges of the sector.
“I have called you here for all of us to put our brains, minds and hearts together to see the way forward for the future of our country” the President noted.
President of the Ghana Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association
After a close door session with the Pharmaceutical industry representative, Kofi Nsiah Poku, President of the Ghana Pharmaceutical manufacturers Association, in a brief remark to the media noted that their interaction with the President was a fruitful one.
Going forward, the government he said has pledged to make financial resources available to support the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Wilberforce Asare
