TOBINCO OPENS PHARMACY SHOP IN TAMALE (PAGE 29)

Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale

THE Management of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited has opened its offices in the Tamale metropolis to bring its services closer to the people in the three northern regions.
The upper sector office complex, which is located opposite the Kukuo central market, a suburb of the metropolis, would supply drugs and extend services to clients in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.
As part of the inaugural ceremony, the company donated assorted drugs worth GH¢5, 000 to the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
The occasion was witnessed by the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Akwasi Twumasi, senior health officials, chiefs, representatives of the security services and the public.
According to the Marketing and Development Manager of the company, Pharmacist Seth Fianko-Larbi, Tobinco was established in October 2005 and that the Tamale office brings to four the number of administrative sectors of the company.
He noted that while there appeared to be population sedimentation in the country, the company was on the path of strategic development by spreading from the southern part of the country to the northern sector.
The manager intimated that ‘‘we are trailblazers as we are almost always the first to introduce a World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommended and Ministry of Health (MOH)-adopted anti-malaria protocol into the pharmaceutical market’.’
He further explained the reasons for the establishment of the Tamale office to include, accessibility, affordability and availability of their products.
‘‘Affordability, which is the strongest of the decision points, stems from our vision to provide quality and affordable medicines to the community as captured in our vision statement,’’ the manager said.
He said currently the company had over 30 products on the National Health Insurance Drug List with its prices far below the quoted allowable insurance prices.
For instance, the manager noted that the price of LONART tablets course, which is the company’s brand of Artemether-Lumefantrine, was about 30 per cent and below the quoted NHIDL price of GH¢4.50 per course.
Dr Twumasi observed that malaria continued to be the bane of the people in the region, claiming the lives of most OPD attendants, particularly children under five years, at the various health centres.
He mentioned drug resistance to the disease, inaccessibility and lack of adequate health centres as some of the challenges the directorate was facing leading to the unfortunate death of majority of malarial patients in the area.
‘‘This centre has therefore come at the right time, it is my hope that it would go a long way to help in providing appropriate and quality medication and pharmaceuticals for effective health delivery care in the region,’’ the director stated.
For his part, Alhaji Idris noted that the establishment of the office was a manifestation of good collaboration between the private sector and the government to tackle the challenges in the health sector.
He commended the management of the company for their initiative and urged them to continue to embark on regular research into finding efficacious drugs for the effective treatment and control of malaria.