The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Bill 2017.
National Chairman of the association, Pharmacist Samuel Adekola made the call while briefing newsmen in Abuja.
The association also shut down services in Abuja and other states in the country between the hours of 12 noon and 2pm to press home their demand for presidential assent to the bill.
Pharmacist Adekola said doing so would go a long way in tackling the huge burden of drug abuse and misuse in Nigeria as well as falsified drugs.
He said the association would also carry out a peaceful protest in a week’s time if their demand was not met.
He said the PCN Bill 2017 clearly prohibits sale of drugs in unauthorized places such as open drug markets, which is in line with the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG), the official government tool structured to address illegal drug distribution channels that the country is currently battling with.
“Today, as it stands, government’s moves to replace the unlawful open market structures with Coordinated Wholesale Centers (CWC) need to be grounded in lawful templates which the PCN bill guarantees.
“The responsibilities of the critical stakeholders and in particular, our regulators like Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as well as police will automatically be enhanced once all the necessary reforms are formalized,” he said.
He said that one of the philosophies of the National Drug Policy 2005 was to guarantee that Nigerians have access to safe, efficacious and affordable medicines, adding that one of the major benefit packages of the PCN bill was that it opened a unique window of competence driven service at all levels.
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