The National Cancer Coalition (NCC) of the US in conjunction with the Breast Care International (BCI) on Wednesday presented drugs worth about 23 million dollars to the Ministry of Health.

The drugs are for cancer related diseases including prostate, colon, paediatric leukaemia, depression, heart disease as well as adjunctive therapies for patients taking chemotherapy.

They drugs include Lamotrigine, Fliphenazine, Levetiracetanm, Buspirone, Fluoxetine, Pisperidone, Lactated Ringers and Dextrose. Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, President of BCI who presented the items, said the donation was in fulfilment of a memorandum of understanding signed last year between NCC and BCI.

This will enable the NCC to supply Ghana vital medicines and medical technology to complement government efforts in reducing the incidence of cancer and its related diseases.
She said the treatment of cancer and its related disease needed contemporary chemotherapy which is very expensive and patients often do not have the money to pay for such treatment. Dr Addai also announced an undisclosed amount of grant from Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, a US based drugs manufacturing company, to be used to provide refresher courses on oncology for nurses.

Mr Samuel Boateng, Director at the Ministry of Health who received the items, lauded the efforts of the two institutions to addressing cancer and its related disease in the country. “Government is working hard to provide accessible health care but we need corporate and other stakeholders to support us towards achieving this goal”, he said.

Source: gna