Ghana lacks strategic drive – Prof. Sackeyfio
The National Science, Technology and Innovation policy that advocates national development through industrialisation lacks strategic drive, says Professor Arthur C. Sackeyfio, Founding Dean, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, Legon.
Prof Sackeyfio said stakeholders must make effective inputs in the utilisation of the country’s natural resources such as salt and bauxite for the establishment of a chemical industry to form a solid foundation of a pharmaceutical industry.
He made the remarks on Thursday in Accra at an inaugural lecture organised by Ghana Academy of Arts and Science on the topic: “Harnessing Science for Development of Medicines-Challenges for Ghana in the Global Matrix.”
Prof Sackeyfio said if the country makes good use of the salt and bauxite through scientific exploitation; it would be the sole exporter of Sodium Chloride Infusion in Africa.
“Ghana has a genuine potential for developing medicines and that the nation must develop strategy to add real therapeutic value to its natural resources before commercialisation,” he added.
Prof Sackeyfio noted that the local production of medicines must be upgraded to ensure adequate supply of the highest quality at all times.
He explained that the development of medicines is a complex scientific enterprise that requires skilled human capital, involves state-of-the art equipment and is challenged by inequities in global distribution of resources and wealth.
“To appreciate the target disease, it is desirable to have a clear understanding of pathology, which constitutes the scientific principles and phenomena underlying the disease.”
Prof Sackeyfio said science is applied in medicine development to achieve the goals of therapeutic efficacy and preclinical and clinical safety.
He said multi-disciplinary scientific approach is inevitable in the development of medicine.
He said doctors must search for the defective gene that causes asthma and correct it through genomics.
Asthma is a polygenic disease with identifiable physiological deficiencies which affects lung function.
Source: GNA