Pharmacists urge Buhari to reconstitute council, fight fake drug syndrome

PHARMACISTS under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) have called on President Mohammadu Buhari to reconstitute the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), which was recently dissolved alongside the boards of other parastatals even as they decried the unsatisfactory and inadequate access to essential drugs and other healthcare commodities in Nigeria.

President PSN, Mr. Olumide Akintayo, at a press conference, yesterday, to mark the 2015 World Pharmacy Day said the pharmacy practice environment has gotten to a most wretched level, which logically cannot afford another vacuum in terms of regulatory control.

The theme of the 2015 World Pharmacy Day is “Pharmacists: Your Partner in Health.”

Akintayo said disciplinary procedures must be a continuous phenomenon on erring pharmacist or pharmaceutical company and that the absence of PCN Governing Council in a strategic profession like pharmacy boosts the fake drug syndrome albeit tragically.

He said the situation in pharmacy profession is replicated in some other healthcare professions, which are now justifiably issuing ultimatums.

Akintayo said other statutory functions like the accreditation of training facilities for pharmacists and support staff in pharmacy are almost jeopardized and that the routine practice matters in the area of monitoring and control are not in the best of health as it has also been impossible to get council to strategize to boost efforts of the Registry of PCN.

The PSN President implored the Federal Government to halt the drift in the operational efficiency of the PCN by reconstituting it now and subsequently invoking the spirit of the law that provides for perpetual succession in the enabling act.

Akintayo said providing adequate healthcare to their populations remains a major challenge for governments in Africa. “Unsatisfactory and inadequate access to essential drugs and other healthcare commodities is a key limitation that impacts on people’s health in most developing and least developed economies,” he said.

The PSN President further stated: “Pharmacists are in a prime position to help patients take their medications in a timely and appropriate manner to ensure that they receive the full benefit of therapy.”