Students of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SoPPS), University of Cape Coast (UCC) have engaged in community services at the Ekumfi District of the Central Region.  This is the School’s maiden Community-Based Experience and Service (COBES) programme.

The community service is geared towards exposing the students to the practical aspect of their academic work to build their capacity for effective and efficient work after graduating.

Under the Community-Based Experience and Service (COBES) programme, students are posted to a community for four (4) weeks with set goals which are aligned with the overall objectives of SoPPS-UCC.

The students carried out research on Essuehyia community’s knowledge, attitudes and practices as far as antimicrobial resistance was concerned.

At Essuehyia SDA Church, Essarkyir Methodist Church, Essarkyir Methodist Basic School and Ekumfi T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School, the students educated the community members on the rational use of drugs.

The students also delivered health talks at grand durbars by the chiefs and people of Esuehyia and Essarkyir communities on the occasion of the Ahobaa festival.  They also spoke on the dangers of self-medication, irrational use of drugs, antimicrobial resistance and Covid-19 vaccine hesitance.

The students used the chance to visit the Naakwa Polyclinic and the Ekumfi Juice Factory to familiarize themselves with the operations of the two facilities.

The students of the SoPP-UCC also made a donation of over two hundred (200) antihelmintics (dewormers) to the Essarkyir Methodist Basic School to be used for mass deworming of pupils. They also donated drugs to the Esuehyia Health Centre and the Essarkyir Methodist Basic School.

The Head of the Esuehyia Health Centre, Mr. Stephen Oteng, expressed gratitude to the students for the donation.

 He said the gesture would go a long way to help the facility meet its drug demands to provide optimum health delivery to the community.

On his part, the headmaster of the Essarkyir Basic School, Mr. Kenneth Archer, also thanked the students for the kind gesture.

The Head of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, Dr. Stephen Ocansey (who led a delegation from the Office of the Provost of the College of Health and Allied Sciences) urged the students to take the COBES programme seriously. He said the COBES gave students a strong community orientation.

The facilitator of the programme, Dr. Isaac Tabiri Henne, in his remark, thanked the communities for their support towards the COBES.

About COBES

The community-Based Experience and Service (COBES) programme is an important part of the PharmD curriculum, and it aligns with the School’s core aspiration to train high quality pharmacists who are sensitive to the community needs of their operational areas.

The programme aims to give students a strong community orientation and increase their awareness of the role of social, cultural, and environmental determinants of health, as well as the relationship between health, environment, and development. It is innovative, community-based, problem solving, and student centered.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC