Accra — The leadership of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, on Monday June 1st, held talks with Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang at Jubilee House, using the engagement to push for urgent reforms in pharmaceutical workforce policy and accelerated investment in local drug research and development. The meeting, which brought together a ten-member PSGH delegation led by Society President Dr. Paul Owusu Donkor, PhD covered a range of issues including the limited employment prospects facing young pharmacists, the scientific validation of Ghana’s traditional medicines, and the Society’s support for the government’s Ghana Medical Trust Fund.

At the heart of the delegation’s concerns was what PSGH described as a growing structural crisis in pharmaceutical workforce absorption. The Society told the Vice President that Ghana’s health system is failing to adequately train, deploy and integrate young pharmacists entering the profession, and that without deliberate policy intervention, the problem would deepen. Prof. Opoku-Agyemang acknowledged the concern, calling for a rethinking of existing workforce systems and the adoption of models that create sustainable employment pathways alongside stronger healthcare delivery.

The delegation also pressed for a coordinated national effort to develop Ghana’s indigenous medicine industry. PSGH argued that scientifically validating traditional and herbal medicines could reduce the country’s dependence on pharmaceutical imports, grow local manufacturing capacity, and open new employment opportunities for pharmacists and researchers. The Vice President’s office indicated government’s openness to partnerships that could bring local medicinal resources into safe and scalable production.

The delegation included other members of the PSGH Standing Executive Committee (SEC); Vice President, Pharm. Peter Gyamfi, Hon. Treasurer, Parm. Anna Naa Kwarley Quatey,PhD the Executive Member Pharm. Lucia Addae and the Executive Secretary Rev. Dennis Sena Awitty. Others immediate Past President Dr. (Pharm). Samuel Kow Donkoh, a former Director of the MOH Technical Coordination Directorate, Dr. (Pharm). Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, the Chairperson of the Community Health & Patient Safety Committee, Dr. (Pharm). Ruby Anne Biaku and a senior lecturer with the University of Ghana School of Pharmacy, Dr. Thelma Ohene-Agyei, PhD. The team also informed the Vice President of preparations for the Society’s 90th anniversary celebrations scheduled to be climaxed in September at the AGM and pharma excellence awards night.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang congratulated the Society on the anniversary and described pharmacists as central to the delivery of primary healthcare and essential medicines across the country. Both sides concluded the meeting with a commitment to strengthen collaboration on workforce reform, pharmaceutical innovation, primary healthcare, and local medicine production.