280 Newly qualified pharmacists inducted
The Pharmacy Council inducted 280 newly qualified members into the pharmaceutical profession at a ceremony in Accra on Wednesday.
Advertisement
The pharmacists are from the School of Pharmacy of the University of Ghana, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Department of Pharmacy of the Central University College and other universities abroad.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the KNUST, Rev. Prof. Charles Ansah, led the inductees to take the Apothecary Oath at the induction service, which was on the theme: “Mobilising human capital for advancement of pharmaceutical care in Ghana”.
New challenges
In a speech, the Deputy Minister of Health, Ms Tina Mensah, challenged the pharmacists to practise in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the profession.
She said the pharmacy profession was facing new challenges and changes, hence the need for them to focus on new approaches and innovative ways in practising it.
As part of the efforts by the government to bridge equity gaps in geographical access to health service, Ms Mensah said, the Ministry of Health had instructed the Pharmacy Council to design processes to identify ineffective work flows and systems and develop plans to implement the new changes.
She called on stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector to make concerted effort to manage the challenges hindering the advancement of what she described as a vital part of healthcare.
“Grow your character”
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Mr Thomas Boateng Appiagyei, urged the new pharmacists to work hard and uphold their values, saying that “you have personal values; hold on to your strong values”.
While urging the inductees to develop and grow their competence, he said there was the need to build their characters as well, since pharmacy was a profession of trust.
“Your competence will always earn you entry into the job space, but it will take your character to sustain and raise you through the job. As pharmaceutical care providers, you need a character steeped in sound moral values,” he advised them.
“The drive to achieve and attain everything within the shortest time, to compete with colleagues, peers and friends sometimes tends to compromise knowledge of right and wrong,” he observed, adding that “a pharmacist without integrity is a huge public hazard”.
Continuous education
Mr Appiagyei further urged the new pharmacists to participate actively in continuous professional development programmes to keep their minds active and abreast of the changing trends in the profession.
He also advised the inductees to make an impact wherever they found themselves to bring about change in their own small ways.
In his address, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council, Mr Audu Rauf, said patients and the public had the right to safe and effective care from pharmacists and urged the inductees to be diligent in their duty of providing quality care.
While congratulating the newly qualified registered pharmacists, he said a vast and rewarding array of opportunities within the pharmacy profession awaited them.