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Story by Paul Mensah Nsor
The Community Practice Pharmacists Association (CPPA) has called on community pharmacists to deepen their role in primary healthcare delivery, describing them as the most accessible healthcare professionals in Ghana.
The call was made at the 4th Community Pharmacy Month Celebration & Bazaar held in Accra, which featured health outreach, public education, professional development, and humanitarian donations.
Dr. (Pharm) Therestella Obosu Tei-Kwabla, CPPA National Chairperson , said community pharmacists are often the first healthcare professionals patients meet.
“Community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals in Ghana. We are represented in towns, cities, villages, and communities. Every day, people walk into the pharmacies because we are the first healthcare professional a patient meets, and in many cases, the bridge between the community and a wider healthcare system,” she said.
Dr. Tei-Kwabla said this year’s month-long celebration was designed to demonstrate the profession’s commitment beyond the pharmacy counter. Activities lined up include a mega community health outreach, public health education campaigns, CPD programs, a bazaar to support pharmacists and entrepreneurs, a donation to Kumasi Central Prison on July 1, and support for Osu Children’s Home.
“These humanitarian activities reflect our belief that healthcare is a right for everyone. We recognize that there are vulnerable populations who often have limited access to healthcare and medicines,” she noted.
She urged corporate institutions, development partners, and individuals to partner with CPPA to expand reach.
Outlining her vision, Dr. Tei-Kwabla said she seeks “a stronger, united, and more influential community pharmacists practice, one that empowers its members, supports young pharmacists, strengthens business groups, champions public health, and continues to be a respected voice in national healthcare policies.”
She called on pharmacists to embrace technology, strengthen clinical services, and uphold ethical standards to remain trusted partners in healthcare.
Dr. (Pharm.) John Allotey, Co-Founder and Partner of Allotey & Associates, said improving communication skills is key to closing gaps in Ghana’s primary healthcare system.
“Unlike expensive technologies or credentials, communication skills are universally available and can be improved starting tomorrow,” Dr. Allotey said. He described communication as “the bridge” connecting community pharmacies with the broader primary care network.
He argued that the barrier between patients and formal healthcare is often communicative, not clinical or geographic.
“A pharmacy that cannot communicate is physically present but functionally absent,” he stated, urging pharmacists to move “from instruction to understanding.”
Dr. Allotey recommended practical tools such as the teach-back method, where patients demonstrate how they will take medication at home, and listening first to understand patients’ beliefs and sources of information.
He also highlighted Ghana’s health literacy challenges, urging pharmacists to “spend on meaning” as part of the medication supply chain.
“When we move from transaction to connection, from instruction to understanding, we are bridging the gap in primary health care one patient, one honest conversation,” he said.
The Community Pharmacy Month, according to organizers, aims to strengthen public health education and professional development. Planned activities include health screenings across Accra, community dinners, a thanksgiving service, and a CPD symposium.
Dr. Tei-Kwabla expressed appreciation to CPPA executives, regional leaders, volunteers, sponsors, and partners for supporting the celebration.
“As we launch this year’s celebration, let us renew our commitment to excellence, integrity, innovation, and service. Let us continue to bridge the gap in primary healthcare delivery,” she said.
Dr. (Pharm) Emmanuel Kwaku Ireland who is the Immediate Past Chairman of the CPPA took his turn to remember and eulogize the forebears of CPPA. They are the late Pharm. Harrison Kofi Abutiate who served as Chairman of the then General Practice Pharmacists Association (GPPA) from 1990 to 1994. Then came the late Nana Dr. Pharm. Michael Agyekum Addo as the next Chairman of GPPA and served from 1994 to 2000.
According to Dr. Ireland, the late Pharm. Ted Bernasko led the change of name to the Community Practice Pharmacists Association (CPPA). He was Chairman from 2000 to 2004. The only surviving first lady Chairperson Pharm. Mrs. Doris Atafua served from 2004 to 2008.
Dr. Ireland who is the proponent of the annual celebration mentioned that these legends were honoured at the 1st Community Pharmacy Month Celebration in 2023. He added that leaders know the way, go the way and show the way and declared that their legacy lives on. The reason for the celebration
