Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of Tuesday, 26th July,, 2022
The Falling Cedi and Its Effect on Health Care Delivery
The Pharmaceutical Industry says all medications supplied to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Private Health Insurance Companies would, with immediate effect, be on a cash basis until the economy stabilizes.
This, the Association said, has become necessary due to macroeconomic indicators such as exchange rates and payment terms. Inflation, interest rates, fuel prices, and utilities, among others, have a deleterious effect on the smooth running of the pharmaceutical business in Ghana.
Mr. William Adum Addo, President of the Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association, told Journalist in Accra on Thursday that pharmaceutical companies would now operate a “no credit” policy for all buyers in the industry.
He was speaking at a press briefing organized by the Pharmaceutical industry, which included the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana, and the Pharmaceutical Importers and Wholesalers Association of Ghana.
The joint press conference was to highlight the impact of the current economic difficulties on pharmaceutical businesses and steps being taken to save the industry.
The Daily Searchlight believes that the action by these organizations is a direct step back towards the retrogressive ‘cash and carry system’, which was abolished by the Kufuor Administration as far back as 2002.
The action has become necessary as a consequence of the weaknesses in the economy, which has led to a falling currency and rising prices, leading to great uncertainty in the micro-economy in terms of fiscal planning. In actual fact, a million could depreciate to become a few cedis in a very few days.
Even though the incidence of the falling currency has happened at this unfortunate time, we believe it is a consequence of the nation’s bad economic and social policies over decades, from the time of President Kwame Nkrumah.
We believe that the only way to prop up the currency and bolster the economy is for Ghana to become more self-reliant in the production of goods and services. We must export more, consume more of what we produce here, and import less of everything.
Until and unless we get to that point, we would have a truly long way to go, and the currency would continue to depreciate.
(This article was first published in the column EDITORIAL of the Daily Searchlight of Tuesday, 26th July,, 2022. The Daily Searchlight appears on the newsstands of Ghana every working day and PDF versions are available for sale online twenty-four hours a day all day throughout the world on www.ghananewsstand.com).
