Pharmacists Council seals 537 outlets for illegal activities in Kano

Pharmacists Council of Nigeria yesterday clam down on 537 medicines shops for violation of extant laws and operational guidelines in Kano.

According to the council, the sealed outlets include 138 pharmacies and 399 patent medicine shops parading fake and substandard drugs and unauthorised sale of substances of abuse.

Addressing journalists on Thursday in Kano, Registrar of the council, Pharm Elijah Mohammad, disclosed that the illegal outlets were uncovered after a week-long enforcement exercise in the state.

The registrar explained that before the arrest of the culprits, the enforcement team visited 20 councils including Municipal, Ungogo, Fagge, Kumbotso, Taurani, Gwale among other densely populated areas.

The registrar, who decried the proliferation of illegal warehouses and unregistered patent medicine, expressed worry that the activities of the criminal operators are already putting the health of the Kano population in danger.

Pharmacist Elijah, who was represented by the Director, Enforcement at the council, Pharm. Stephen Esumobi, regretted that the illegal outlets have contributed to the irrational dispensing of medicines, which are a major concern for treatment failure.

He urged the public to be mindful of the activities of illegal operators to protect their health. The registrar however called on the security agencies to help facilitate the arrest and prosecution of the criminal element in the state.

” It is in order to address this challenge that the enforcement team decided to visit the state and we have begun the enforcement exercise in the last one week in collaboration with Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.

“A total of 1581 premises comprises of 657 pharmacies and 924 patent medicine shops were visited across the state. The 537 sealed were operating without registration with the council.”