 |
| L-R: Adeniyi Adefolake, National Treasurer, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Emeka Duru, National Secretary PSN; Ahmed Yakasai, President PSN; Osamede Uwubanmwen, General Manager, Bio-generics Nigeria Limited and Saromi John, Product Manager, after signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bio-generics Nigeria Limited on Award for Professional Integrity for Pharmacist in public health hospitals in Nigeria, recently. |
Chioma Umeha
To tackle the rising spate of drug and substance
abuse epidemics in the country occasioned by prescription medication misuse,
the Senate at a roundtable recently recommended the strengthening of
Pharmacovigilance to address the menace.
Against this backdrop, Ahmed Yakasai, President
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), has called for strengthening of
pharmacovigilance as well as its integration into medical practice and public
policy.
Pharmacovigilance or drug safety is the
pharmacological science relating to the collection, detection, assessment,
monitoring, and prevention of adverse effects with pharmaceutical products.
The National Pharmacovigilance Centre (NPC)
situated in the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) coordinates Pharmacovigilance activities in Nigeria.
NPC serves as a repository for reported adverse
drug reactions from health workers and also liaises with other international
groups such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency in improving drug safety in
Nigeria.
Yakasai’s call which stressed role of
pharmacovigilance was contained in his presentation titled; ‘Prescription
Medication Abuse – Strengthening Pharmacovigilance’ at the two-day Senate
roundtable held in Kano.
The PSN boss further explained that the use of
medicines on such a large scale calls for a better and more efficient level of
pharmacovigilance.
He said, the priority areas of pharmacovigilance
that need to be addressed include, improved detection and accurate diagnosis of
Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) by healthcare providers and patients.
The PSN President called for active surveillance
of specific drug safety concerns through epidemiological methods such as case
control studies, record linkage and epidemiological studies and indeed
implementation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) based technology
to facilitate surveillance.
The pharmacist recommended special activities and
expertise required for the detection of safety concerns related to vaccines,
biologicals, veterinary medicines, herbal medicines, biotechnology products and
investigational drugs.
Yakasai called for improved signal detection
systems by facilitating the rapid availability of ADR data that may have
international relevance as well as development and implementation of ADR
detection systems that could benefit populations with restricted access to
health care.
He said there should be assessment of ADRs through
further development of automated signal detection systems used in spontaneous
monitoring programmes and improvements in assessment of drug safety concerns
that are of international relevance.
Yakasai also called for greater collaborative
links both at local and international level that could allow countries to
assess and respond appropriately to drug safety crises.
He recommended consideration of methods by which
information on local patterns of drug use can be integrated with
pharmacovigilance information during assessment of benefit and harm at a
national level.
In a related development, PSN signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with Bio-generics Nigeria Limited on Award for
Professional Integrity for Pharmacist in public health hospitals in Nigeria on
Friday, December 15, 2017.
The award prize is N1million to be presented
during the opening ceremony of PSN Annual National Conference. This is to
encourage high ethical standard, commitment and integrity in the discharge of
pharmaceutical services to the generality of Nigerian populace, as well as
improving overall patient care.
Osak Uwubanmwen, the Managing Director (MD)/Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) Bio-generics, was represented by Osamede Uwubanmwen,
his General Manager, and Saromi John, product Manager at the event.
Supporting the PSN President were Emeka Duru, the
National Secretary and Adeniyi Adefolake, National Treasurer.
Meanwhile, the society has congratulated President
Muhammadu Buhari on his 75th birthday.
The PSN in a letter dated December 18, 2017 and
titled, ‘Birthday Congratulations,’ noted: “On behalf of the National Executive
Committee, Council and the entire members of the Pharmaceutical Society of
Nigeria, I write to convey hearty congratulations to you on this occasion of
your 75th birthday anniversary.
“We pray Almighty God to grant you strength, good
health and wisdom to continue to lead the good people of Nigeria.
“Once again accept our congratulations.”
