Exploring the operations of itinerant medicine sellers within urban bus terminals in Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

This paper explores Itinerant Medicine Sellers’ (IMSs) operations at loading bays within bus terminals in the Kumasi metropolis. The paper examines how the sellers negotiated access into the loading bays, how they marketed their medicines, where they sourced their medicines from, and the challenges they faced. An exploratory qualitative survey design was adopted for the study. Through convenience sampling, 18 IMSs operating within the bus terminals in the Kumasi metropolis participated in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were thematically analysed. The study found that these hawkers negotiated access to the loading bays through multiple informal gatekeepers and employed direct customer engagement in marketing their medicines. It was further revealed that the IMSs sourced their medicines from both formal and informal sources for different reasons, such as affordability and informality of medicines acquisition. The participants operated outside government-prescribed regulations and faced challenges of low capital and sales revenue, poor reception by prospective clients, and government clampdown. The study concludes that medicine hawking is an illegal livelihood strategy and a public health concern. As a phenomenon outside government’s policy guidelines, it is recommended that government intensifies its clampdown activities on these hawkers and engage in public health education on the negative implications of accessing medicines from these IMSs.