Pharm. Anthony Bola Oyawole is a presidential candidate of the
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in the November 2018 election. Oyawole
who is a Fellow, West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists; Fellow, PSN
and Fellow, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy has released 15-point agenda to
actualise his dream. In this interview with CHIOMA UMEHA he explains why he
wants to lead the noble organisation hence forward. Excerpts:
Why do you want to take over from Pharm. Ahmed
Yakasai as president of PSN?
After rounds of consultations with the rank and
file of the PSN membership, I believe I have requisite qualities that can make
me consolidate our gains of the last two decades through an admixture of positive aggression, confidence, zeal and tactful diplomacy
of some of our past presidents, which I shall build on.
What gave you the conviction that you are the man
for the presidency of the PSN?
The
success story of the last five years are
particularly close to my heart as a prominent member of the PSN ‘War cabinet’ in the immediate last two dispensations. I was chairman of the
Strategy Committee of the PSN in the 2012-2015 era. In this same era, I was
chairman of the PSN Constitution Review Committee which produced the present PSN
constitution in 2013.
From 2016, I have also anchored the PSN Law and
Ethics Committee, in addition to being the Desk Officer
in charge of Association
of Professional Bodies of Nigeria
(APBN) which continues to give me detailed exposure to the Presidents
of all the Professional
bodies in Nigeria. These
experiences have adequately
prepared me to steer the ship of the PSN in the foreseeable future. I must say with a deep sense of
responsibility that I have not been double minded in my
cardinal goal of joining the prestigious league of men of honour who ever led
the PSN.
What is your agenda to move the PSN to the next
level?
One of the issues on my agenda is achieving
fee-based practice to boost pharmacy practice.
What does actualising fee-based practice entail?
Our profession continues to grow on numerous
fronts. Efforts were made in the past to institutionalise professional stamps
and seals which are supposed to be regulatory tools. We shall partner the Pharmaceutical (PCN) to ensure the
stamps and seals become the
epitome of professionalism as it shall be recognised as a tool to earn
professional fees like is the case in Law, Accountancy, Engineering etc. The
actuals in this regards
would be perfected under my
Presidency.
Promotion of group/collaborative practice
Modern day professional practices and businesses are anchored on
mega-structures housing members of
the health team under one mega complex in such settings as seen in Europe, USA
and Asia. The pharmacist supplies all drugs and medical consumables to the
different professional practices. This in addition will create the much desired
harmony in the health team. We must
therefore begin to
orientate players in our private sector to embrace new
thinking and fresh ideas in the quest to adopt global learnings
moving forward. Also, retail, distribution, importation
and manufacturing outfits must
contemplate mergers to assume global posture.
On the flip side, pharmacists because of their
training and position in the health team must lead the way in building needed confidence to
collaborate with other care providers in medicine, laboratory sciences,
physiotherapy, radiography and
others.
We must begin to join forces in the private sector to come up with functional and
competence based private health complexes which will shift
attention to Nigeria for health
needs. The collaborative practice model will drive better participation
in our social Health Insurance.
Research and development in practice
The PSN is certainly overdue for a research and
development department at its national secretariat. This will feature data
gathering in all areas of practice to allow us influence policy direction at
state and federal government
levels. Recent concerns on the menace of drug
misuse and abuse as well as the
response of PSN which was commended by
National Assembly
and all stakeholders because the
PSN ‘war chest’ remained
alive to its responsibilities.
In the nearest future, we should
be able to lead the way in health
planning, emergency response lead time and related ideals with a
functional Research and Development Department at the
PSN
National Secretariat.
Establishment of the National Postgraduate
College of Pharmacists
The residency training programme and consultancy
cadre for pharmacists in Nigeria is an open invitation to divest the
institutional templates available to train personnel for this vital human
resource in healthcare in Nigeria. Even when the WAPCP continues to make some progress
in the quest for adequate capacity building in the sub-region, a need arises at
this juncture to have a training platform approved by an act of parliament that serves the exclusive national
interest that can statutorily draw from the annual budget of the FMOH in post graduate
trainings currently enjoyed
by doctors alone.
We will be talking with the committee of Deans under PCN to fashion the
training in line with the current
arguments of the medical
doctors to enable the ferent specialists in
pharmacy become professors
with
time,
practice, research and
papers
presented
Experienced pharmacists in different specialists
of practice will be
encouraged to teach as adjuncts to
enrich
studies and research
paper.
I will liaise with stakeholders to organise a
summit to re-model the
undergraduate curriculum to produce eight-star personnel
pharmacists in the future.
I will work with ACPN to re-fashion our
Community Pharmacies to stock veterinary medicines and
accessories which will become compulsory in
the next 10 years.
Life assurance welfare scheme
A contributory life assurance welfare scheme shall be instituted. The fund which shall be continually invested in bonds and treasury
bills to ensure its growth shall be managed by a Board of Trustees setup for this
endeavour. The benefits to the family or next of kin of any deceased financial member shall be one million naira or as may be
determined from time to time by the Board of Trustees.
Judicial redress of offensive development
The PSN must become a lot more proactive in
dealing with situations which amount to clogs in the wheels of progress in the
profession. We shall ensure maximal protection of the profession to boost the
spirit of pharmacy jurisprudence.
Construction of PSN property at Victoria Island,
Lagos
This property which has suffered hiccups in terms
of the execution of agreements for building by developers will be a major
priority in the new dispensation as we shall attempt to develop through
internally generated revenue. If elected President, I will work with the NEC to
complete this
project before the end of
my
tenure. The major
advantage the Pharmacy House, Victoria Island, Lagos project will bring to bear
remains the immense influx of funds which the society needs very
much for stability and consolidation of its various endeavours in the years
ahead.
The routine programmes
For instance, the annual national conferences had
been tinkered within the last few years to make it more impactful. The chaos
associated with registration is now better managed through e-line registration.
The salient highlights to improve upon include; Bracketisation of the opening
ceremony into business and ceremonial spheres. We shall infuse new strategies
to make the opening ceremony more compact and eventful.
The plenary sessions at conferences have been re-packaged to justify the credit points allotted to
participants for MCPD by PCN. These sessions are hosted in befitting venues and
supervised by PCN chieftains. We shall ensure the sessions’ topics revolves
around specialisation in practice
to
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| Pharm. Anthony Bola Oyawole |
The conferences must be structured to showcase the
well admired scientific background of pharmacists as poster sessions where abstracts
will be displayed become an integral part of the conference.
