The government must declare galamsey as a national public health emergency and confront it with the same urgency as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has said.
It added that galamsey must be treated as a national public health crisis requiring immediate and decisive action, with robust enforcement mechanisms and severe penalties.
The PSGH made the call in a communiqué signed by its President, Pharm Dr Paul Owusu Donkor, and copied to The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday after the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Society, held from September 22–27, 2025, at the University of Cape Coast.
The programme, which coincided with the celebration of World Pharmacists’ Day and was held on the theme, “Strengthening Pharmacy for Primary Healthcare,” brought together pharmacists, policymakers, and stakeholders to deliberate on critical issues affecting the profession and the health system, and to adopt resolutions to advance pharmacy practice in Ghana.
The PSGH said the government must launch comprehensive environmental remediation programmes to mitigate the impact of galamsey.
According to the Society, galamsey is undermining primary healthcare by contaminating water sources essential for medicine production.
“Galamsey is destroying ecosystems and agricultural productivity, compromising raw materials for local pharmaceutical manufacturing, and forcing reliance on expensive imports, thereby threatening Universal Health Coverage,” the communiqué said.
The PSGH urged the government to develop and implement a clear policy framework to integrate the more than 5,000 community pharmacies into the primary healthcare system.
“We urgently call on the government to recruit pharmacists who have completed school into the public sector. We also appeal to the government to fulfil the Minister of Health’s July 2025 commitment to recruit the 1,621 qualified pharmacists currently awaiting permanent employment,” the PSGH stated.
It said the Ministry of Health should ensure competitive conditions of service that guarantee equitable pharmaceutical care access nationwide and urgently resolve the perennial delays in financial clearance for pharmacist house officers — the 2024 cohort has remained home for over nine months without posting, with the 2025 cohort soon to follow.
“Universal primary healthcare is impossible without universal access to pharmaceutical care. The severe shortage of pharmacists in Ghana’s public health sector threatens patient safety, increases medication errors, and drives up healthcare costs. International evidence consistently demonstrates that pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care improves patient outcomes while reducing health system expenditure,” the PSGH stressed.
The Society said the Ministry of Health must adopt a “Pharmacy First” policy, positioning pharmacies as the first point of care for minor illnesses, preventive services, non-communicable disease (NCD) management, and public health data reporting, and establish contractual arrangements with the NHIA to reimburse pharmacy-based primary care services.
The AGM also led to the election of new leadership, with Pharmacist Dr Paul Owusu Donkor as President; Peter Gyamfi as Treasurer; and Dr Anna Naa Kwarley Quartey and Lucia Addae as Executive Members.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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