As Igbinedion varsity inducts 193 pharmacy graduates into PCN
Vice Chancellor of the Igbinedion University Okada (IUO), Prof Lawrence Ezemonye, yesterday, admonished medical and healthcare professionals to embrace Information Technology (IT) using Telemedicine and Telepharmacy to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Ezemonye stated this at the institution’s 10th oath taking and induction ceremony of the 2019/2020 in Edo State and virtually with 193 pharmacy graduates inducted into the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN).
He said pharmacists were vital healthcare providers and frontline healthcare experts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they also engage in vaccine investigation and production.
Ezemonye stressed the role of pharmacists in the nation’s preparedness and response to the pandemic.
He said: “The global pandemic has necessitated a reorientation in the provision of healthcare and implementation of information technology to improve the quality of pharmaceutical services. Therefore, the role of pharmacists extends beyond distribution and supply of drugs.
“In providing healthcare during the pandemic, especially as it has to do with safety protocols and restrictions, Telepharmacy has proved to be a veritable solution to containing the spread of the pandemic through physical distancing.”
He commended PCN’s educational and regulatory role, particularly in the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
Speaking, Dean of Pharmacy of the institution, Prof. Ighodaro Igbe, said Pharmacy was a noble profession that guarantees opportunities for new graduates to have great prospects of practicing in different fields such as academics, hospital, industries, administration, research and in other human endeavours.
He said that the institution’s college of pharmacy since inception in 2004/2005 has trained over 708 pharmacy graduates who have excelled both in private and public sector as well as in and outside the shores of the country.
Registrar of PCN, Elijah Mohammed, who said the council frowns on professional misconduct, disclosed that the council had institutionalised the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme to ensure continued advancement and relevance of pharmacists in the health sector.
