Pharmacists under the aegis of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) have made recommendations on how to strengthen the health sector.
They disclosed this at a press conference ahead of the Society’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference scheduled to hold from Monday, November 1 to Friday, November 5, 2021 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Speaking, PSN President, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, said to broaden and strengthen the pharmaceutical/health sector, the government must adopt four steps.
He said the government must rethink the healthcare system; the pharmaceutical sector is the credibility of the health sector and should receive commensurate attention; supply chain systems should be retooled to incorporate resilience; and community pharmacies should be officially recognised as Primary Health Care Centres.
The theme for the conference is ‘COVID-19 Lessons: Broadening/Strengthening The Nigerian Pharmaceutical/Health Sector’.
Ohuabunwa said the theme of the conference seeks to address a pressing need of the time. “In times like this, what else but COVID-19 and the lessons inherent in the pandemic. We have framed our discussions on broadening/strengthening the health sector and thoughtfully selected a scholar, researchers, inventor, a professor of pharmaceutics and an astute administrator, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the present Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to give the keynote address,” he said.
Explaining further how to strengthen the health sector, Ohuabunwa said: “Adequate policy should be put in place to train more personnel and retrain health workers for situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Task shifting and task sharing should be goal-driven right from conception to implementation to be efficient.
“Government’s action lately shows that they are convinced the pharmaceutical sector should receive more attention.
Unfortunately, we are yet to feel the impact due to challenges of sourcing foreign exchange. I will advice that government provide loans to pharmaceutical companies in the currency acceptable to country of importation.”
