Accra — The Minister of Health, Dr. Benjamin Kunbour has observed that that the only way to improve access to medicines is to ensure extreme transparency and accountability along the full length of the supply chain.

He said the Ministry of Health has introduced the principle of multi-stakeholder approach for purposes of improving communication around medicines supply by facilitating public access to information on medicine registration, availability, pricing, policies and practices concerning the promotion of medicines.

Dr. Kunbour was speaking at a day's workshop organized by the Ghana Forum for Medicines Transparency Alliance (META) in Accra.

"We fully believe this can be facilitated in a public-private and civil society engagement in an open and transparent fashion, we also think that a vibrant, free and independent media is key to guaranteeing personal freedoms and ensuring fairness and accountability in public and national life".

He urged MeTA to be mindful of the need to clearly define the rules of engagement in the multi-stakeholder approaches to medicines transparency since it would be dealing with various interest groups. He believed that would also facilitate conflict resolution if they arise.

He said the Ministry has been very supportive of the media and that its major role in the establishment of the Health Communications Institute(HCI) lends ample credence to the claim The HCI, a private non-governmental organization, has brought together journalists and health professionals.

In a presentation, Dr. Daniel Kojo Arhinful, Senior Technical Advisor to MeTA Ghana, said poor quality medicines can lead to worsening health , increased disease and even death. He said essential medicines are intended to be available within any functioning healthcare systems at all times, in adequate amounts and in appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality, and at a price the individual and community can afford.