Various medicines are procured by the public and private health facilities, which mainly depend on the disease prevalence reported in a particular hospital or clinic. Products are usually categorized broadly based on their therapeutic class. A hospital Pharmacist noted that, “some drugs have few suppliers and in some instances you realise that only one company put in a tender for that particular drugs…it makes it quite difficult for the facility sometimes especially when it is out of stock”. The “quantities of antihypertensive and other cardiovascular products procured increase every year in our facility…there is a huge market for these products” [Pharmacist]. Also of significant importance are the diagnostic agents. These products are purchased in substantial quantities by public and private health facilities, as well as private laboratories. The following are some of the key categories of medicines purchased by these health facilities:

·  Medicines for hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders

·  Anti-Diabetics

·  Antimalarial drugs (Artemisinin Combination Therapy)

·  Anticoagulants

·  Pain management (both NSAIDS and Opioids)

·  Antibiotics

·  Antifungals

·  Anti-tuberculosis

·  Reproductive health medicines

·  Antivirals

·  Nasal and Ophthalmic preparations

·  Skin preparations

·  Anaesthetics

·  Antihelminitics

·  Diagnostic agents

These are key classes of drugs purchased by the health facilities; however, products tendered for are assorted, which depends partly on the prevalent conditions. These facilities do not limit themselves to some few specific drugs; however, they take into account the prescription patterns, previous consumption of specific medications, epidemics, stock levels etc. However, at the moment, very few companies import and distribute specialised drugs and therefore, challenges ensue when limited stocks are available for supplies, which also distorts the supply chain management process. A detailed list of essential medicines is presented in Appendix 2. The essential medicines presented in  Appendix 2  are those that  satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness. As a result, new medications that are not included in the list could be added following a successful application through the Ghana National Drug Program (GNDP) of the Ministry of Health.