The Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) Hospital in Accra has collaborated with the Ghana Public Health Association (GPHA) to engage community pharmacists in the Municipal in an Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) training workshop on Thursday 19th May 2022 at the hospital’s premises.

The workshop was aimed at creating awareness and deliberating on pragmatic interventions to hamper the surge in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the Ledzokuku Municipal.

Culture and sensitivity data from the clinical laboratory unit of the hospital, as well as data on patient treatment outcomes, indicate that multi-drug resistance to some of the commonly prescribed antibiotics is real and well documented.

The training, led by Pharmacist Derrick Mawuena Asima reinforced Pharmacists’ role in delivering public health campaigns and opportunistic patient advice and counselling such as hygiene, appropriate antimicrobial use and self-care, whiles ensuring rational antimicrobial dispensing and environmental and hand hygiene in the pharmacy workplace.

The Deputy Executive Secretary (DES) of the PSGH, who was representing the PSGH President, in his address, asserted that community pharmacists remain important champions of AMS because of the unique accessibility of the community pharmacy network as the first point of call for most patients. Pharmacists also routinely provide consultations for patients and initiate antimicrobial therapies.

The DES further called on all stakeholders to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policymakers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.