Yakasai said the work on this project has commenced and soon we will invite the media for the official launch of this idea. The PSN President said for Nigeria to be completely delisted from the endemic countries the country must sustain the surveillance and immunization so that by 2017 she can be certified free of polio. Yakasai said this eradication of polio can only be possible if the Federal and State governments continue to meet the financial commitments to sustain the momentum. Yakasai also called for the review of pharmacy laws and regulation in collaboration with relevant arms of government in tandem with global best practices; and actualization of Pharm. D. programme as a minimum entry requirement for the practice of pharmacy in Nigeria.

The PSN President also called for the creation of online system for professional registration and e-learning for the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD); establishment of research grants to undertake research and independent assessment of drug quality, MCPD needs of pharmacists in collaboration with academia; initiation of professional indemnity insurance to pharmacists and strengthen group insurance and at the same time pursue vigorously the welfare of health workers in Nigeria; establishment of Friends of Pharmacy Forum to strengthen bonds with external bodies; bringing about digital innovations to enhance the efficiency of our practice in-line with international standards; and greater engagement with the public through educative and enlightening special promotion campaigns e.g. Diabetes, hypertension.

Yakasai also wants enhancement of the role of PSN by means of wider advocacy at various national and international for a stimulation of public awareness and knowledge on various health, hygiene, sanitation issues and diseases with specific emphasis on drugs; promotion of rational use of drugs with cooperation from medical fraternity; foster better communications with Federal and State Ministries, National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Schools of Pharmacy, among others; strengthening of ties and relationship with other professional organizations/agencies; establishment of a mechanism for recognizing and endorsing valuable contributions of members (past, present and future); encouragement and giving more opportunities and build capacities of young pharmacists and students of pharmacy; and strengthening of institutional framework (structure, systems and processes) of PSN.

Yakasai also wants the implementation of National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG); implementation of the National Health Act 2014; and promotion and support Drug Research and Development; creativity in organizing Annual National Conference of PSN to match international standard. Yakasai said despite these seeming gains healthcare still remains in dire strait on the basis of a holistic appraisal. He, however, acknowledged that another positive event in 2015 was the ability to curtail and prevent fresh cases or resurgence of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Yakasai regretted that in the earlier part of 2015, the whole of the health sector was plagued in unprecedented strike action as a result of a legion of welfare issues and alleged violations of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) as well as agreements with workers in the health sector. He decried a situation where Nigeria’s first National Health Act was passed into law in 2014, but nothing serious has happened in terms of operating the basic tenets of the enabling Act.

This Act, he said, if implemented will be funded from one percent of Nigeria’s consolidated revenue and grants by International donor partners through the National Health Care Development Agency which will manage 45 per cent of the fund as follows: essential drugs and vaccines 20 per cent; laboratory equipment and transport 15 per cent; and human resources 10 per cent. Yakasai said while the National Health Insurance Scheme which will manage 50 per cent of the fund will cover pregnant women, children who are less than five years, the elderly from 65 years and physically challenged persons. The Federal Ministry of Health will manage five per cent of the fund for the provision of basic minimum package of health facilities (emergencies).

The PSN President, however, said the country’s health sector is still battling with poor access to public health interventions, while diseases like Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, among others are still with here. Yakasai advocated that there is a need to review Nigeria’s dependence on donor agencies, hence the government should strongly create enabling environment by way of intervention funds to enable our local drug manufacturers to produce antiretroviral drugs and even vaccines. “As we are all aware Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization Initiatives is gradually withdrawing from Nigeria. I must appreciate the Federal government through the National Health Care Development Agency for organizing stakeholders forum on vaccines production to stimulate interest and develop a business plan for local vaccines production in Nigeria,” he said.

Yakasai said as Nigeria march on in 2016, the federal government must embrace universal health coverage to give teeth to global norms which presume that access to health must be the right of all citizens. “The fastest way to achieving this is to embrace primary healthcare, which places a premium on preventive care,” he said. The pharmacist said the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH0 must promote a true Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agenda which is fashioned out in conjunction with the relevant regulatory agencies and professional bodies with regards to the health professions.

He said the welfare issues, which have lingered for so long must be redressed. Yakasai explained: “Adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS) for health workers like was done with Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) for medical doctors to ensure parity must be achieved through the 2016 budgets. The clamor for consultancy cadre must be approved for those health workers who have met the condition precedent with regards to due process. “In 2016 the legal and moral teeth must be given the Health Act as part of an agenda to energize health care plans for our people. It is our hope that the 2016 budget (3.65 per cent) will be fully implemented.”

The PSN President called on the incumbent Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole “whose body language and comportment epitomizes a radical departure from this status-quo which is a gross waste of human resources necessitating wretched outputs, to introduce institutional reforms.” Yakasai explained: “The FMoH must then drive the processes, which will compel the active participation of community pharmacists and physicians, environmental health officers, nurses, laboratory scientists and other public health experts at grass root levels. These services must be paid for to incentivize these healthcare workers as it ultimately saves our Nation tones of money spent on curative drugs that we waste scarce resources importing.

“If a gospel of good hygiene and other public health ideals are spread by health professionals in their practice facilities at community levels and we empower Environmental Health Officers to enforce health statutes from 2016, we may begin to reduce our disease burden by over 50 per cent in Nigeria.”

Source: Guardian Online