Posted on: Fri 27-11-2020

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has expressed worry over the lack of support to its members from the federal and state governments.

The National Chairman, of ACPN, Dr Samuel Adekola, at a briefing in Lagos said despite the community pharmacy being the foundation of the health care system, it had remained untapped and unnoticed by the government.

The briefing was organised ahead of the ACPN’S 39th National Scientific Conference scheduled to start on November 30. The theme of the conference is, ‘Optimising Primary Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria: Community Pharmacists’ Untapped Potentials.’ The conference would hold between

Adekola urged the government to pay attention to the body and give it the proper recognition it deserves to function better.

He said, “The conference will be looking at the role of community pharmacists. Community pharmacists have several roles. When you talk about primary health care, you are talking about preventive medicine, it is the foundation of every health care delivery system. It is on record that 70 per cent of health care services in Nigeria are served on the community pharmacists level.

“Community pharmacists are contributing hugely to the public health intervention by the government and if we get it right at this level, our Nation’s health indices which are presently abysmally low will certainly improve.

“We want the government to explore these areas and give what we call appropriate legislation, as it’s been done today in developed climes. Today, the World Health Organisation has promoted the promulgation of laws to give specific roles to community pharmacists in the European Union. In the United Kingdom, parents were advised to take their wards to community pharmacists for treatment, particularly, for non-severe cases.”

Source: Punch

---

---