Ataa Hinneh emerges overall best pharmacist
The first batch of pharmacists who graduated from the University of Ghana (UG) School of Pharmacy have completed their professional qualifying examinations, with one of them emerging the overall best student in Ghana.
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The award winner, Miss Josephine Ataa Hinneh, swept both the John Ocran Award for being the overall best candidate and also the Pharmacy Practice Award in the 2013 Ghana Pharmacy Professional Qualifying Examination.
She received certificates and a cash prize for each award.
In all, 31 students from the UG were among 205 newly registered pharmacists inducted by the Pharmacy Council of Ghana.
Pharmacy development
The John Ocran Award was instituted by the West African Post-graduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP), in recognition of the immense contribution of John Ocran to the development of pharmacy.
Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Miss Hinneh thanked their lecturers and all those who supported them during their studies, and called on the Health Ministry to regularise the employment of pharmacists who were ready to serve under the health ministry.
The ceremony, on the theme: “Advancing pharmaceutical care in contemporary Ghana,” involved inductees from the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Central University College and from the diaspora.
Congratulatory message
Professor A.C. Sackeyfio, special guest of honour for the ceremony, and Founding Dean and Professor of Pharmacology at the School of Pharmacy, UG, congratulated the newly inducted registered pharmacists on their hard work and splendid achievement.
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He advised them to count themselves as the flag bearers of a noble human mission by providing pharmaceutical care to patients which required exceptional dedication and commitment.
He said according to the Ghana Health Service, only 30 per cent of the national requirements of pharmaceutical products were produced in Ghana, while the remaining 70 per cent were imported, which comes with a high price in terms of quality and quantity that cannot be guaranteed.
Greater goals
The University of Ghana School of Pharmacy (UGSOP), the newest constituent of the university's College of Health Sciences, was established in November 2007 with the enrolment of the first batch of 34 students, out of which 31 were inducted as pharmacists. Current total enrolment of students stands at 152.
The school currently offers courses in five disciplines, namely pharmaceutics and microbiology; pharmacology and toxicology; pharmaceutical chemistry; pharmacognosy and herbal medicine; and pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy.