The Ministry of Health in 1983 published a list of Essential Drugs with Therapeutic Guidelines to aid the rational use of drugs. This document has been reviewed in response to new knowledge on drugs and diseases and changes in the epidemiology of diseases in Ghana. The Ministry has also produced guidelines for specific disease control programmes, diseases and identifiable health providers.

The Government of Ghana, through the National Drug Policy remains committed to ensuring the availability and accessibility of good quality medicines for all people, and that these medicines are affordable and are rationally used. Achieving these objectives requires a comprehensive strategy that not only includes supply and distribution, but also appropriate and thoughtful prescribing, dispensing and use of medicines.

These Standard Treatment Guidelines have been prepared to assist and guide prescribers (including doctors, medical assistants, and midwives), pharmacists, dispensers, and other healthcare staff who prescribe at primary care facilities in providing quality care to patients. The guidelines list the preferred treatments for common health problems experienced by people in the health system and were field-tested before being finalised to ensure that the opinion of the intended users were considered and incorporated.

The guidelines are designed to be used as a guide to treatment choices and as a reference book to help in the overall management of patients, such as when to refer. The guidelines are meant for use at all levels within the health system, both public and private.

It is recognised that the treatment guidance detailed in this book may differ from current practice. It is emphasised that the choices described here have the weight of scientific evidence to support them, together with the collective opinion of a wide group of recognised national and international experts. The recommendations have been rated on the following basis:

Evidence rating A - requires at least one randomised control trial as part of a body of scientific literature of overall good quality and consistency addressing the specific recommendation.

Evidence rating B - requires the availability of well-conducted clinical studies but no randomised clinical trials on the topic of recommendation.

Evidence rating C - requires evidence obtained from expert committee reports or opinions and/or clinical experience of respected authorities. This indicates an absence of directly applicable clinical studies of good quality.

To use treatment other than those recommended here may have to be justified to colleagues, managers, or in law.

The content of these treatment guidelines will undergo a process of continuous review. Comments or suggestions for improvement are welcome. Those comments or suggestions for addition of diseases should include evidence of prevalence as well as a draft treatment guideline using the format set out in this book. In the case of a request for a new drug or replacing a listed product with another product, the evidence base must be clearly defined and included with the request.

These suggestions should be sent to:

The Programme Manager
Ghana National Drugs Programme
Ministry of Health
PO Box MB 582
Accra, Ghana
West Africa