Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies are unable to obtain letters of credit (L/Cs) because banks are concerned about the increasing amount of money the drugs firms are owed by their customers.

A substantial number of the pharmaceutical companies' customers are health service providers who have not been paid by the state's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Indebted companies

In response to this situation, the Ghana Chamber of Pharmacy (GCP) has said it will cut its supply of drugs to health service providers who depend on the NHIS to pay for their drugsfrom 1 August 2014.

The chamber's spokesperson, Ernest Owusu Aboagyen, told Ghanaian television that the chamber's members cannot continue to supply health facilities that are indebted to pharmaceutical companies.

L/C shortage

Another medical provider, the Christian Health Association has already withdrawn its services to NHIS subscribers because the scheme owes its hospitals the equivalent of around US$17 million.

According to a GCP statement, the situation has, "largely affected the ability of our members to raise L/Cs from the banks to pay suppliers in order to replenish stocks for further deliveries."

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.