Endswell Pharmacy Limited is also running the only accredited Medicine Counter Assistant (MCA) school in the Upper East Region, providing professional training for individuals involved in dispensing medicines.
The Endswell MCA Training School is accredited by the Pharmacy Council of Ghana. According to Dr. Benjamin Asunka, a staff member of Endswell Pharmacy Limited, the program was introduced to improve the quality of pharmaceutical services and ensure that only qualified personnel dispense medicines in pharmacies and hospitals.
“This course is introduced by the Pharmacy Council of Ghana. They provide the syllabus, we train the students, and after their examinations, they are certified,” he explained.
Dr. Asunka said the training addresses a long-standing challenge where untrained individuals dispense medicines without proper knowledge, posing serious risks to public health.
“This training ensures that people selling medicine understand what they are dispensing. It helps prevent dangerous mistakes that can harm or even kill patients,” he added.
Endswell Pharmacy began training MCAs in 2021. Although the course was initially six months, the Pharmacy Council has extended it to one year to strengthen the quality of training. The current training session has already begun, but prospective students can still enroll until the end of February.
Upon completion, trainees write a national examination in December, after which they are qualified to work as Medicine Counter Assistants anywhere in Ghana.
Dr. Asunka disclosed that demand for MCAs is very high across the country, with pharmacies and hospitals actively seeking trained assistants to meet regulatory requirements.
“All the MCAs we have trained so far are employed. People keep requesting for MCAs, but we don’t even have enough because everyone we train gets engaged,” he said.
He explained that the Pharmacy Council requires every pharmacy and licensed chemical seller to have qualified MCAs; failure to do so can lead to closure of the facility. Dr. Asunka expressed optimism that the school will continue to create employment opportunities for the youth while improving the standard of pharmaceutical care in the Upper East Region.
A1 Radio | 101.1Mhz | Joshua Asaah | Bolgatanga
