Nigerian pharmacists, therefore, insist that the lives and future of innocent Nigerians may be in serious jeopardy if the current trend is not checked especially by the signing into law the proposed Bill which has already passed through the stages of reading and eventually passed by the National Assembly towards the end of 2017.

In a press conference organized at the PSN Secretariat in Lagos, the Chairman of the body of community pharmacists (ACPN) Lagos State chapter, Pharm. Obideyi Olabanji addressing news hunters explained the urgency of the matter at hand, stating that, “as a responsible association, we have to take this matter up by downing our tolls for about two hours during which no pharmacy in Lagos and other parts of the country is expected to attend to any pharmaceutical needs of citizens except for emergency medicines.”

Onward from the press briefing I had personally embarked on a mission to feel the pulse of the pharmacists as well as ascertain to what extent the members had complied with the advice by ACPN to its members to carry out the order to shut down business for just two hours. Between the hours of twelve noon up to 2 PM, it became obvious that community pharmacists were in total support as the compliance level was as high as 80%. One interesting thing was that some of the protesting pharmacists had more than total compliance – they locked up completely and were nowhere to be seen until 2 PM when they were seen returning to work.

In complying, the pharmacists displayed a poster with the message: Dear@MBuhari To Stop #Drug Abuse #Sign Pharmacy Bill Now, etc. And now, how come the said bill is missing or lost? Pharmacists and Nigerians want to know why. Is the bill missing, lost or stolen? Why would anyone in their right senses want to thwart the efforts of well-meaning Nigerian pharmacists to ensure that drugs (pharmacologically referred to as poisons) distribution and sales are properly done in addition to safeguarding the lives of the majority of Nigerians? Does the bill contain anything that is inimical to the health or progress of the citizenry? If not, Nigerians want to know what is really going on here.

When I put this question to Pharm. Kayode Akeju who operates his outfit along the Ojota/ Ketu zone which I covered, he expressed his frustration at what he called, some people’s “vested interests” in ensuring that the bill is killed. Speaking to me from behind the barricade of his store he, however, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly assent to the bill before he begins his second tenure in office adding that, “as professionals, we need to make sure that things are done properly”.

Pharm. Akeju strongly believes that some vested interests are averse to change for some selfish reasons and so they’re hell-bent on having it “business as usual”. He urged the Nigerian people for whose interest the bill stands to resist the efforts of such saboteurs.

Contents of the bill suggest that when passed into law it will among others:

1. Empower the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria regulatory activities.
2. Make for an adequate regulatory framework for Pharmacists and other cadres of the pharmaceutical workforce in the country.
3. Make available adequate regulatory framework for different cadres of pharmaceutical premises; it will also include the concept of Satellite pharmacy to guarantee the provision of pharmaceutical care services to all regardless of location, be it urban or rural.
4. Contains improved penalties for various offenses – to serve as a deterrent to people who violate the provisions of the current pharmacy laws at will. In the same vein, the bill compels pharmacists to show more responsibility in their professional practice considering that its disciplinary committee is empowered to check and bring to book every erring pharmacist and others engaged in the pharmacy workforce, etc.

Source: Pharmatimes