Community Pharmacists appeal to IGP to investigate armed robbery attacks on members

The Community Practice Pharmacists Association, CPPA, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Dr. George Akufo Dampare to set up a Committee to investigate the recent robbery attacks on Community Pharmacies.

This, the Association believes, will provide leads to arrest the culprits.

Speaking to the media, Chairman of CPPA, Dr. Emmanuel Ireland, appealed to the IGP to provide security to Community Pharmacies.

”We are ready to collaborate with the Police for the protection of our members,” he noted.

Quite recently, there have been a number of attacks on members of the Community Practice Pharmacists Association, CPPA Association with the very latest, occurring in Kumasi.

“We call on you the Inspector General of Police Dr. Akuffo Dampare to instruct your men and women,
a. to as a matter of urgency investigate all reported cases of robbery against Community Pharmacists and Pharmacies
b. to provide security and patrol services to Community Pharmacies in the country and we are ready to collaborate with the police to protect life and property”.

There has been a rise in robberies cases on Community Pharmacies, CPPA across the country this year. The latest incident in Kromoase near Aburaso, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, brings to fifteen, the number of cases recorded.

The most recent attack was on the 21st of December, 2021 was when one of the members of the Association, CPPA was shot in the stomach by armed robbers and absconded with a huge sum of money and other valuables at a Pharmacy shop in the Ashanti Region.

The robbers shot into his car tires but the victim managed to drive to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where he is receiving treatment.

While the Association is appealing to the law enforcement agencies for intervention, the CPPA Chairman, Dr. Emmanuel Ireland urged the members to be security conscious and ensure that they put in place measures to protect themselves and their property.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged Community Pharmacists and their staff to perform under difficult circumstances as we try to assist patients and clients to manage the disease and prevent complications. As the first port of call, we fearlessly faced the pandemic challenge and attended to all who visited the pharmacy without knowing who was carrying the disease,” he added.

One of the victims, the CEO of Health Consult Pharmacy, Michael Coffie, who has been attacked on six different occasions called on the Police to map up strategies to protect their members.

He said, “it’s not like we are not taking any precautions but anytime we take one step, they also try to plan and come back in a different style. So the way we’ve been able to fortify the place is to put an iron gate.”

The Community Practice Pharmacists Association, CPPA is the largest group of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana with a membership of about 3,500 Pharmacists across the country.

The Association dispenses prescribed medications and provides quality health intervention, health screening as well as sensitizing the public on adverse drug reactions.