The Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) is urging President John Dramani Mahama, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Health to grant urgent financial clearance for 599 newly inducted pharmacists who have been awaiting posting for nearly 10 months.
According to the association, the prolonged delay in deploying the pharmacists for their mandatory housemanship is crippling healthcare delivery across the country while stalling the professional growth of the young graduates.
GHOSPA emphasised that pharmacists are essential to the health system, providing clinical pharmacy services, ensuring medication safety, counselling patients, and leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance. It warned that the absence of this critical workforce is overstretching existing staff and compromising patient care.
“Pharmacists have not been recruited into the Public Service for the past five years. This prolonged freeze has created a glaring gap in the health workforce, undermining pharmaceutical care at both the primary and secondary levels,” the statement noted.
The association cited the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital as an example, where only 11 pharmacists are currently serving, far below the Ministry of Health’s staffing requirement of 35—leaving a shortfall of 24.
Beyond its impact on healthcare, GHOSPA highlighted the personal toll on the affected pharmacists, including stalled careers, financial hardship, and the risk of brain drain as many may seek opportunities abroad.
The association stressed that the deployment of pharmacists should be seen as a critical investment in national health security, not a financial burden.
“Our health system is in dire need of their expertise. Our young professionals are in dire need of the opportunity to serve. We call on the government to act now to secure both the future of these pharmacists and the health of the nation,” GHOSPA urged.
GHOSPA has further called for the establishment of a sustainable system to prevent similar posting delays in the future.
