organization: Organization TypeGovernment

Gertrude Laryea

I am a 53 year old pharmacist working as the Deputy Director for Pharmaceutical Services at the Accra Metro Health Directorate. Accra Metropolitan area has a population of close to 2,000,000 people. My passion is to work to promote rational use of medicines, particularly antibiotics, in the metropolis. I also want to work to increase spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (pharmacovigilance) among health workers and residents alike in this catchment area. I am of the strongest conviction that through social and behaviour change communication I can achieve my goal.

Prior to working in the Metro Health Directorate I worked as a pharmacy manager in one of the hospitals in the metropolis- Maamobi General Hospital. Here, among other activities, l offerred adherence counselling and drug information services to clients in the anti-retroviral therapy, diabetic and hypertensive clinics, thereby optimising pharmacotherapy and improving health outcomes.

Educational background
BPharm (Hons) – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), 1988
MSc Clinical Pharmacy – KNUST, 2015
MA Communication Studies – University of Ghana, 2016
I took a semester’s elective course in Health Communication.

Key Interest
To develop a career in health communication.

farouk shettimah

Farouk shettimah, an indigen of kebbi state Nigeria, Hausa Fulani by tribe. Am presently working with Nigeria Television Authority Birnin kebbi with five years working experience as a producer of health programme.

Ernest Kakoma

Born in 1972, Zambezi District, Zambia, I obtained my Diploma in Clinical Medical Sciences in 1996, from Chainama College of Health Sciences. I then studied BA Adult Education at the University of Zambia, where I obtained a degree in 2007 and proceeded to do my Masters of Public Health/International Course in Health Development (MPH/ICHD) from VU Amsterdam/Royal Tropical Institute and graduated with a MPH/ICHD in 2015.
I worked as a Clinical Officer General in Mufumbwe District, North western Province, Zambia for 12 years, then promoted to Senior Health Promotion Officer for North western Province for 8 years before joining the National Malaria Elimination Programme in 2016. I currently work as Principal SBCC Officer, at the NMEC, Lusaka, Zambia