NCHS trains Pharmacist on minilab

Flashback: Ms. Patinora Manye(R) leading the practicals 

The National Catholic Health Service has organised a five-day training four Pharmacist and Pharmacy technicians on the Minilab protocols to ensure that patients at the various NHCHS health facilities in the country were served with good medication.

To achieve this, participants were taken through the four Minilab of testing procedures, including Visual detection; Disintegration; Colour Reaction Test, and the Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC), to test and detect counterfeit medicines.

This was part of the NCHS efforts to pursue the fight against counterfeit medicines in the health systems.

The trainees, drawn from the St. John of God Clinic at Amrahia in the Accra Archdiocese; St. Joseph Hospital at Effiduase, Koforidua; Sacred Heart Hospital at Abor and the Catholic Hospital at Anfoega in the Keta-Akatsi and Ho Dioceses respectively, commended the NCHS for taking them through the training exercise.

A practical section of the Conference

They observed that the training was an eye opener to them and would help them in their work at their various facilities and to ensure that quality medicines were served patients.

They also appealed to DIFEAM and other partners to provide them with the minilab kits to help them put what they have learnt a lot in practice, would now take critical look at drugs and to ensure that counterfeit ones were prevented from reaching the patients.  

The main facilitator for the programme, Ms. Pattinora Manyi, Pharmacy Technician from the Central Pharmacy of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, expressed satisfaction at the active interest of the trainees throughout the training session.

She expressed optimism that they would become ambassador to fight the counterfeit medicines in the country.

As part of the training, Mr. Frederick Sowah, the other Co-facilitator for the workshop, stated that the participants tested 10 different drugs, in the categories of Anti-Malaria, Anti-Asthmatic, Antibiotic, Antidiabetics and Analgesics (painkillers).

The Minilab project

The Minilab project was conceived and funded by German Institute for Medical Mission (DIFAEM) and its partners to train and equip health personnel to complement efforts of government to counter the influx of counterfeit drugs into the health system.

The Project which is part of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), is the Pharmaceutical arm of world Council of Churches in health delivery, which has passion to fight counterfeit medicines from circulation within the health system.

DIFAEM and EPN established the “Minilab Network” to provide a platform for equipped and trained organizations to share information, experiences and provide peer support to each other to enhance best practice.

In November 2016, DIFAEM and EPN in conjunction with NCHS organized the First West African Regional Minilab Workshop at Aburi, at which participant among other points resolved to prioritise on sampling and testing for Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), as well as Embark on working visits to each other network member.

Flashback: The Participants at the November 2016 Conference