By Chioma Umeha
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has
called on pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of its
arrangements with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) to facilitate a
smooth registration process in 2017.
Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, President of PSN, said in a
release that the arrangement was particularly key to achieving a faster pace of
licensure of practitioners and pharmacy facilities to ensure that the tenets of
Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) are entrenched for consumers of health in Nigeria.
Yakasai explained that in 2017 the procedures
would entail that all pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies fulfil the
protocols of regularising their membership of PSN following which they would be
issued Clearance Certificates by the respective state branches.
The release read: “Regularisation of membership
will include the payment of a compulsory building fee of N5, 000 in line with
resolution of the National Council of PSN passed on February 17, 2016. This
move becomes necessary in line with Annual General Meeting (AGM) directives
that NEC should commence a physical possession of the Pharmacy House at
Victoria Island, in Lagos State and swing into action in building all our
properti “The Clearance Certificates will subsequently be used to obtain
Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) scratch cards to proceed with registration
formalities.
“It is imperative to continue to stress the
statutory/legal imperatives of the relevant pharmacy laws which include the
proviso in part II section 4(1) and (2) which states inter-alia:
“4(1) A selling dispenser shall in the month of
January in each year sent to the Registrar a list of all the premises (form B)
where his business, so far as it comprises the sale of drugs is being carried
on and the name of the selling dispenser or chemists having the personal
control (form J) of the business on each premise.
“4(2) A selling dispenser or chemist who fails to
comply with the provisions of this section is guilty of an offence and liable
on conviction in respect of each offence,” Yakasai stated.
The PSN president also said that pharmacists in
all cadres of practice were enjoined to immediately pay their practising fees
in view of Section (14(1) of the PCN Act which provides that “No registered
person shall practise as a pharmacist in any year unless he has paid to the
Council in respect of that year, the appropriate practising fee which shall be
due every January.
“It is important to inform members of the PSN that
after due consultations with the PSN NEC, the PCN has taken a bold decision to
invoke the provisions of Section 14(6) of the PCN Act, which posits that “Any
pharmacist who in respect of any year without paying the practising fee
practices as such is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction,” he
stated.
He added that the National Secretariat of the PSN
would continue to evaluate the registration procedure in all states to ensure
that the consuming public has access to good quality and registered pharmacy
facilities in 2017.
“The PSN National Secretariat conscious of its
responsibilities has also continued to engage the Federal Government and other
levels of government including the appropriate regulatory agencies via PCN and
NAFDAC on the need to enforce all Pharmacy and Drug Laws in the months ahead.
“Naturally, registered pharmacists must continue
to set noble standards and we urge all to heed this clarion call by getting
registered to avoid embarrassments.
“We do solicit the maximum co-operation of all
stakeholders to ensure the success of this arrangement in the ultimate
professional and public interest.
“On a final note, we must have elevated heart set,
health set and soul set for a superb mindset in 2017,” he added.
