The Ghana Pharmaceutical Society has raised an alarm over the potential collapse of the country’s local pharmaceutical industry due to the destructive impact of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
According to the Society, galamsey activities are contaminating water bodies and plants that serve as critical raw materials for local drug manufacturing.
Speaking at a forum in Cape Coast on Thursday, September 25, 2025, the President of the Society, Dr. Samuel Kow Donkor, said the situation requires urgent intervention.
“Ghana currently depends on 70% of its medicines on imports. The locally produced medicines need quality water for production, especially for infusion manufacturing. When our water treatment plants are shut down because of galamsey, we will face a catastrophic scenario.
“When that happens, we will not only import our medicines, but we will completely collapse our local pharmaceutical industry,” Dr. Donkor warned.
He emphasised that ending galamsey was not only an environmental and health concern but also a matter of national security, as the sustainability of the local drug industry depends on access to safe water and raw materials.
