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| L-R: Olumide Akintayo, Immediate Past President Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakasai, President PSN, and Emeka Duru, National Secretary PSN during the Council meeting of PSN at Pharamcy House, Anthony Village, Lagos, recently. |
…Says Plan Will Defeat War On Fakes
Chioma Umeha
Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) rose
from its first National Council meeting and alerted on dangers of moving drug
matters to the Concurrent List, saying it may constitute a setback to the fight
against fake drugs.
Specifically, PSN has warned that any attempt to
move drug matters to the Concurrent List would worsen the fake drug syndrome,
drug misuse and abuse as well as other bottlenecks in drug distribution
networks in the country.
The warning which was contained in a communiqué
signed by Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai and Emeka C. Duru, President and National
Secretary, respectively, issued at the end of the meeting held at Pharmacy
House, Lagos, recently.
The communique reads; “The council drew attention
to a recommendation of El-Rufai’s APC Restructuring Committee that proposes to
move drug matters currently on the Exclusive List (item 21 of part I of the
second schedule of the 1999 Constitution) to the concurrent list.
The APC had last year set up a 23-member committee
led by Gov. Nasir El-rufai, to articulate its position on restructuring, with a
charge to the team to engage in deep and wide consultations such that its final
report will engender credibility and broad acceptance.
The communiqué reminded the APC administration and
the National Assembly, “All successive federal constitutions from Independence
had always placed drug matters like in most other responsible and sensitive
countries in the Exclusive List.”
The communiqué posited;“It would be extremely
dangerous for an evolving country like Nigeria with a track record of poor
security checks and extremely wretched regulatory controls to contemplate the
possibility of at least 37 licensing authorities for product and premises
licensure in Nigeria.”
The meeting also critically appraised contemporary
matters in the pharmaceutical sector and the totality of the health system in
Nigeria.
On the statutory responsibilities of the Consumer
Protection Council (CPC), PSN praised the recent landmark ruling of the Federal
High Court, Abuja, in December 2017 for declining to approbate any
responsibility to CPC.
The responsibility declined by the court include
the CPC bid to partly regulate and control pharmacy practice as well as
exercise oversight responsibility on the pharmacy profession in Nigeria.
The PSN Council advocated strong collaborations
between the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) and other agencies like the CPC.
PCN has specific powers in law to regulate and
control pharmacy practice in all its aspects and ramifications in the country.
In view of such collaborations, the PSN Council
counseled that reports of cases on breaches which are brought to the attention
of the CPC should be transferred to the PCN to enable it invoke appropriate
sanctions.
It called for harmony at the Secretariat of the
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja where there is controversy
over the reinstatement of the erstwhile suspended Executive Secretary of the
Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf.
The reinstatement of Yusuf, who was alleged to
have misappropriated N919 million, has generated controversy among different
stakeholders in the health sector.
After his suspension by the Minister of Health,
Prof. Isaac Adewole, last year June, and probed by a body constituted by the
minister, President Muhammadu Buhari, in a letter signed by his Chief of Staff,
Abba Kyari on Tuesday, February 6, recalled Yusuf.
After reviewing the poor coverage rate of social
health insurance in Nigeria, which was put at less than three per cent after 12
years, the Council called for a check on the unproductive drift of the NHIS.
It observed with regret that NHIS is supposed to be
a private-sector driven agenda, but is drifting towards a public sector
project.
The Council of PSN therefore called for a check on
NHIS. Consequently, it also demanded for a proper definition of what
constitutes a primary care centre. Similarly, the group sought the entrenchment
of a lawful payment mechanism in the operations of the social insurance scheme.
The Council further frowned at the slow pace of
Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in actualising central internship placements
of interns in all cadres of health professions in the country.
It reminded the FMOH that PCN championed a
proposal on commencement of central placement for interns in the pharmacy
profession to the Health Minister.
The Council urged the FMOH to commence the central
internship placement as its initiative by removing the bottlenecks which are
unduly delaying the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) noble interventions.
Also, the Council of the PSN lamented the delay in
the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS) unlike the
Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) which was adjusted since January
2014.
It also noted with regret that the Federal
Government approved another round of increment coupled with enabling circulars
within four weeks in favour of the CONMESS structure.
The communiqué warned the Federal Government on
impending industrial action by health workers over failure to meet their
demands at the end of a 21-day ultimatum which expires on March 1, 2018.
It stated; “Council expressed anxiety at the level
of restiveness of health workers which has led the Joint Health Sector Unions
(JOHESU) and AHPA to declare another 21- day ultimatum to the Federal
Government effective February 8, 2018.
“Council implores the Federal Government to
immediately convey necessary approvals to avoid another round of morbidity and
mortality imposed on Nigerians.”
Furthermore, the council urged FMOH to facilitate
an IT platform which centralises information about registered drugs, products,
pharmaceutical premises, including business partners in line with the template
of the National Council on Health’s policy.
It further enjoined the FMOH to ensure that the IT
platform be coordinated by the PSN, PCN and National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) under its, the former’s supervision.
The Council strongly urged the National
Universities Commission (NUC) to finalise its working arrangement with the West
African Postgraduates College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) to open windows for
students of the college to embark on academic postgraduate training.
The postgraduate training which is to take place
in Nigerian universities should be specially tailored to enable them to
speedily conclude their Masters and Ph.D programmes, it said.
It also called for a special training for media
personnel on drug abuse and misuse in line with its corporate social
responsibility outputs, saying it would provide detailed insights to abuse of
codeine, narcotics medicines and drug misuse episodes in the health system.
The council then endorsed the proposal of PCN,
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), NAFDAC
to collaborate with the PSN on its training proposal.
It condemned the non-appointment of pharmacists on
the Boards of Federal Health Institutions as representatives of other health
professionals as provided for in the Teaching Hospital Act.
The council advised the Federal Government to
adopt international standards which places premium on the availability of safe
and efficacious drugs in the health systems of any nation.
It insisted that credible healthcare is built on a
flawless drug supply scheme which only registered pharmacists can drive.
Finally, the National Council enjoined all
pharmacies to continue to excel in service delivery to consumers of health,
while the leadership of PSN continues to work assiduously with stakeholders and
government to redress the myriad of challenges ravaging the practice environment.
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