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Multi-Sector Collaboration To Tackle Scourge
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May 2, 2018
To end malaria scourge in the country, pharmacists
have urged government to adopt more of team approach by involving importers and
manufacturers as well as reducing foreign exchange (forex) on drug matters to
enable the common man access quality health care, especially the anti-malaria
ones.
Speaking for the pharmacists was Pharm. Ahmed
Yakasai, the President Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), who stressed
that the Federal Government, importers and manufacturers should join hands in
the strategies to control and eliminate malaria in Nigeria.
Yakasai who made the call during a press
conference at Pharmacy House, Lagos to mark this year’s World Malaria Day,
insisted that the government should make the business environment more
conducive and friendly for Pharma businesses for production of affordable
anti-malaria medicines.
Specifically, the PSN boss demanded for the
institution of a reasonable tax regime, availability and affordability of
capital and reduced exchange rate for malaria drugs.
He said; “Government needs to make the business
environment more conducive and friendly for Pharma businesses by instituting a
reasonable tax regimes and make capital available and affordable by also
instituting a cheaper exchange rate of not more than N200 for $1 as done in
other sector not as critical pharmaceutical sector.”
Noting that the theme of this year’s World Malaria
Day is, “Ready to beat Malaria,” the PSN president underscored the collective
energy and commitment of the global malaria community to unite with the common
goal of ensuring a world free of malaria.
Malaria burden
On the worldwide scourge of malaria, Yakasai said
that in 2016, nearly half of the world’s population was at risk of the disease,
noting that most of the malaria cases and deaths occurred in sub-Saharan
Africa.
“The African region continues to carry a disproportionately
high share of the global malaria burden. In 2016, the region was home to 90 per
cent of malaria cases and 91 per cent of malaria deaths.
“Some 15 countries including Nigeria – all in sub-Saharan Africa, except India
– accounted for 80 per cent of the
global malaria burden.
“In areas with high transmission of malaria,
children under five are particularly susceptible to infection, illness and
death; more than two thirds (70 per cent) of all malaria deaths occur in this
age group.
The number of under-five malaria deaths has
declined from 440 000 in 2010 to 285 000 in 2016. However, malaria remains a
major killer of children under five years old, taking the life of a child every
two minutes,” he stated.
Yakasai saying that he was saddened that malaria
still kills thousands of Nigerians, urged the government to encourage Research
and Development (R & D) and take-off of petrochemical industries to
encourage local production of drugs.
“As long as the 95 per cent of raw materials – Active
Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and packaging materials for drugs are
imported, the prices of medicines would continue to skyrocket,” he contended.
He also urged importers and manufacturers to
realise that provision of anti-malarials should be seen as a social service
which does not require high percentage mark up, hence the need for downward
review of prices of anti-malaria.
World Health Organisation at 70
As this year’s World Malaria Day coincided with
activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of World Health Organisation
(WHO), Yakasai said the PSN celebrates the achievement of WHO in the past 70
years and the progress they have made so far in improving the quality of
people’s lives.
The seasoned pharmacist pledged that PSN would
continue to work with the world health body and other partners for the
wellbeing of all Nigerians.
On the state of the nation, Yakasai noted that
issue of drug abuse and misuse calls for a national emergency that requires
total commitment from the government and all stakeholders in the country.
He however gave the National Assembly a pat on the
back for giving the right attention to the menace. He added that National
Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and PSN-YPG are
collaborating to educate young people in secondary schools on the danger of
drug abuse.
“As the father of PSN-YPG and a friend of NAFDAC,
we will continue to support this laudable initiative to make sure that all our
teenagers are empowered and educated to do the right things and become
contented citizens of our dear country,” he said.
PSN-YPG means the Pharmaceutical Society of
Nigeria – Young Pharmacists Group.
Health sector situation and strikes
Meanwhile, the PSN president again draws the
attention of the federal government to the spate of unwholesome strikes by
health workers in Nigeria with the consequent fallout of avoidable morbidity
and mortality.
He contended that at the root of the avoidable
strikes was the desire for benefit packages and privileges for all concerned.
“These clamours from all sides of the divide
appear to have been grossly mismanaged by government at all levels over the
years,” he said.
He went down memory lane on the genesis of the
industrial action tracing it to the Olikoye-Kuti leadership in the Federal
Ministry of Health that got the military administration of Gen. Ibrahim
Babangida to approve the Medical Salary Scale (MSS), a discriminatory salary
wage in favour of medical doctors in public service.
“The MSS obviously disrupted the equilibrium of
public sector wages as it became the basis for other sectoral players request
for exclusive wages in the health sector. After the MSS was introduced, the
Health Salary Scale was introduced for health workers apart from doctors,” he
added.
Yakasai reeled out the position of the PSN on the
issue as follows:
He said the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria
demands that the enabling circular to adjust the CONHESS scale like was done
with CONMESS in 2014 and 2017 be issued immediately as agreed.
“In similar spirit, we request the President
Muhammadu Buhari to direct the issuance of the circular that legitimises the
consultancy cadre for pharmacists in public service as approved by the National
Council on Establishment.
“We strongly recommend that to stem the tide of
industrial disharmony in the public service, the Federal Government must
restructure the wage pattern to fit into one universal scale which gives
preferential entry point to those who have longer duration of training to
enable them enter at higher steps on the Universal Salary Scale as a permanent
intervention.
“The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has always
been matured and peaceful in its agitations. This has made us very vulnerable
to exploitation by some stakeholders. In the current dispensation we demand
justice and equity for all concerned without further delay in the interest of
consumers of health in our country,” he said.
Yakasai also called the attention of the
government to the welfare of all health care providers, noting that the brain
drain of pharmacists, nurses, doctors and all healthcare providers could be
reduced with the right welfare packages.
“I also use this medium to add my voice to Bill
Gate call on all tiers of government to increase their budget for the health
sector. A healthy country is a productive country,” he said.
Miral – YPG Ravimal Essay Competition
Yakasai also seized the opportunity to launch the
Miral – World Malaria Day Essay Competition tagged, “RAVIMAL Essay Competition”
observing that it seeks to engage young Pharmacists and pharmacy students in
malaria elimination and tackle the widespread of malaria.
The topic of the essay is, “Ending malaria deaths
in Africa;the challenges, the opportunities.”
Commenting, Mr Onyeka Onyeibor, Miral
Pharmaceuticals Managing Director, said the competition will help take on the
possible solutions on the reduction of malaria as the deadly killer of about
one thousand people every day.
He added that the objective of the competition is
to discover students and young health professionals, who do not only know about
malaria, but effectively can, communicate it to the global community as well as
the Nigerian public.
