Chioma Umeha
Lagos – In view of superior knowledge of drug
composition and manifestation in the human body, pharmacists are demanding to
be leaders in the handling of drugs and related decisions to end drug menace in
the country.
Speaking under the auspices of Association of
Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), the pharmacists called for clearly
defined boundaries of operations for Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) and other
members of the healthcare delivery system such that pharmacists would act as
their heads.
Their demands came following a recent summit
during which ACPN deliberated on a number of issues about the body, resolving
that the role and rightful place of each health team player should be conceded
to them and respected for the benefit of the general public.
In the resolutions of the summit signed by Samuel
Adekola, National Chairman, and Bose Idowu, National Secretary of the body
respectively therefore counselled that access to drugs should be restricted and
supervised by community pharmacists in every establishment.
It also resolved that drugs should be taken off
the streets and the efforts towards advocating the prevention of drug abuse and
misuse to the public via information, education and communication (IEC)
channels intensified.
The body also advocated that the National Drug
Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) should be prioritised through political will to
guarantee the interest of the Nigerian populace on the long run.
They further called for measures to be put in
place to hasten the citing and structural development of coordinated wholesale
centres in the priority locations to safeguard the health of Nigerians.
ACPN also demanded a speedy assent to the Pharmacy
Act which authorises the establishment of Satellite Pharmacies and the support
of pharmacy education in public interest.
The resolution read; “Summit clamoured for clearly
defined boundaries of operations for PMVS and other members of the healthcare
delivery system in the handling of drugs such that, the Pharmacist leads drug
related decisions due to superior training and knowledge of drug composition
and manifestation in the human body.
“The role and rightful place of each health team
player should be conceded to them and respected for the benefit of the general
public.
“Summit therefore counseled that access to drugs
should be restricted and supervised by Community Pharmacists in every
establishment. Drugs should be taken off the streets.
“Summit declared that the National Drug
Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) should be prioritised through political will
based on the perspective that it serves the interest of the Nigerian populace
on the long run. Measures should be put in place to hasten the citing and
structural development of Coordinated Wholesale Centres(CWCs) in the priority
locations to safeguard the health of Nigerians.
“Summit called for a speedy assent of the Pharmacy
Act which authorises the establishment of Satellite Pharmacies and the support
of Pharmacy education in public interest.”
Speaking on the resolutions, Samuel Adekola, the
National Chairman of ACPN, felt that there should be a concerted effort to
improve the infrastructural amenities in the rural areas to motivate community pharmacies to be cited in rural
settings.
Following a critical appraisal of the NHIS,
Adekola said the body strongly recommended fees for services rendered by all
providers to be paid directly by HMOs and the health insurance made compulsory
as soon as all existing lapses are addressed.
He said the PCN should insist that only registered
Pharmacies are to be involved in the scheme while fees for services should be
unbundled and kept by the HMOs.
This is just as he said that Pharmacists’ seal on
prescriptions should be made compulsory to attract payment of all services. In
addition, he said that the NHIS should review drug prices annually in
consultation with the ACPN.
The National Chairman then encouraged ACPN
leadership to continue to work with NAFDAC to ensure smooth enforcement of
regulatory standards in CPs and institute a workable regime of registering
orphan and service drugs using the instrumentality of NAPAMS.
While appreciating the modest strides of NAFDAC,
he called for a review of some of the conditions attached to the MAS initiative
and other cutting edge technologies. He suggested the setting up of joint
consultation teams from NAFDAC, MAS service providers and ACPN to redress
existing challenges and promote collaboration.
Adekola charged the ACPN leadership to further
evaluate regulations backing up the setting up the Satellite Pharmacies so as
to make the Satellite Pharmacy concept a fruitful venture.
He noted that the Pharmacist and his knowledge are
valuable. Therefore CPs must justify the confidence of the consuming public as
it oversees the totality of medicine management and make referrals when
necessary.
He explained that tenets of the incumbent Pharmacy
Bill which states that Community Pharmacists should supervise the activities of
20 PPMVs should be implemented to legally authenticate the operation of PPMVs
and facilitate their operation as Pharmacists’ assistants in ensuring the
delivery of safe and high quality drugs.
Also commenting on the resolutions, Bose Idowu,
National Secretary, said that mapping of pharmacies should be completed through
fund allocation by the FMoH, for effective distribution of pharmacies and
ultimately, the welfare of the populace.
Idowu admonished the ACPN to liaise with all
development partners with interest in drug distribution in Nigeria to engage
pharmacists as the primary reference points and access other players in the
drug supply chain only based on the pharmacist’s supervision as it is obtained
in other countries.
She also insisted that representatives of donor
agencies in Nigeria must be made to pledge their support to the new operational
framework. The ACPN must reinforce the philosophy by adopting Desk Officers to
work with PCN, NAFDAC and NDLEA.
The National Secretary demanded minimum benchmarks
for proper labeling initiatives in the Pharmaceutical Sector with regards to
manufacturers and importers who must ensure that their products bear
classification as OTC (Over the Counter) or POM (Prescription only medicines)
which would ease regulation of PPMVs who are licensed to carry only OTCS and result
in the protection of the patient.
She said engagement in proper labeling of
medicines dispensed from community pharmacy premises such that the patient has
very clear instructions about the dose and frequency of medications on a
pre-printed label which will also bear the name of the dispensing community
pharmacy.
The summit subsequently mandated the ACPN NEC to
ensure immediate commencement of labeling initiative in CPs.
The summit also acknowledged the Federal Ministry
of Health (FMoH) had resumed work on the abandoned project of instituting a
NPP, a 2013 initiative of the PSN. This had resulted from the unhealthy rivalry
among healthcare professionals. The motive to ensure controlled and regulated
access to medicines which would reduce the ravaging menace of drug abuse and
misuse in Nigeria must always be the guiding light of this endeavour.
Idowu solicited that the constituted National
Committee for the NPP should include the national chairmen of ACPN and AGPMPN
to facilitate private sector participation and compliance.
She strongly supported and commended the Trans –
generational Community Pharmacy Investment agenda of the current leadership of
ACPN and agreed that one strategic move to achieve the lofty vision of the
association was by creating structures with supporting systems for
collaborations among CPs that will eventually crystallise to group practice
models among the practitioners – a one critical panacea for sustainability.
The summit adopted in line with FIP/WHO policies
the expanded roles for community pharmacists, some of which include point of
care testing, non-routine immunization services, non-invasive family planning
services, health information and promotions, primary prevention of
non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
It directed the ACPN leadership to foster fresh
partnerships with PCN and NAFDAC due to the effect of the inadequacies in the
monitoring and control procedures in Nigeria on ACPN members.
The Summit said the ACPN must partner with PCN and
NAFDAC to boost ethically driven inspectorate activities. This will involve a
request for joint inspectorate teams from these agencies to redress our
challenges in practice.
They specifically requested that the work of the
Federal and State Task Forces on Counterfeit and fake drugs must be
facilitated. The efforts with PCN and NAFDAC to actualise the NDDG target goals
and objectives must be reactivated. In particular, the ACPN must encourage the
PCN to take advantage of the manning levels approved for its new Enforcement
Department by the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSOF), in a bid for
coordinated and effective monitoring and control.
They believed that these efforts, if well managed,
would improve the lot of the community pharmacy which in turn would rub off on
better quality service to Nigerian consumers of healthcare.
