Posted on: Fri 26-07-2024

LAGOS – Worried by the recent criminal attacks on pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos State Branch petitioned the La­gos State Police Command over the weekend to immediately facilitate an improved surveil­lance of registered pharmacy facilities in Lagos State.

In the petition titled, “Im­proved Surveillance Of Regis­tered Pharmacy Facilities In La­gos State” the PSN Lagos argued that improving security around practitioners would encourage good pharmacy practice in the state.

The petition signed by its chairman, Pharm. Babayemi Oyekunle, and Secretary, Pharm. Oluwatosin Adeyemi, lamented that in recent times, practising pharmacists in the country have been singled out for attacks by criminals who either, rob, abduct for ransom, or assassination.

This sad development has thrown confusion and fear among PSN members raising the question of who is after practising pharmacists in the country, particularly in Lagos, and why?

The unfortunate situation has undoubtedly affected the pharmacy practice in the state as members are forced to limit their operation hours within the state, it said.

According to the body, one of the prime motivating factors that incentivise many Phar­macists to leave this country’s shore to abroad is largely due to poor security of lives and prop­erty. It asserted that pharma­cists are ready targets because most men of the underworld assume community pharma­cies and other pharmaceutical concerns are goldmines.

The body therefore urged the Commissioner of Police in La­gos, Adegoke Fayoade, to follow the exemplary leadership set by past Commissioners of Police in the state. Notable figures such as Assistant Inspector-General Israel Ajao (rtd.) and former Inspector-General of Police Mo­hammed Abubakar are cited as examples of the high standards set by previous officeholders in Lagos State.

In the face of Nigeria’s on­going security challenges, the PSN Lagos Chapter bemoaned that pharmacists and pharma­ceutical businesses are facing increased vulnerability, partic­ularly in providing emergency healthcare services.

Similarly, it noted that the Nigerian healthcare system has long been grappling with issues of insecurity, posing significant challenges for pharmacists and promoters of pharmaceutical businesses. The body attributed this to the critical role of com­munity pharmacies as the pri­mary point of access for health services has made these profes­sionals particularly susceptible to the complexities of emergen­cy healthcare provision.

It stressed that the critical role of community pharmacies exposes them to the complex­ities of emergency healthcare provision, which include inse­curity.

Despite these obstacles, the body is optimistic about improvement in the healthcare sector with improved security.

The petition reads, “While it is true that Nigeria is gener­ally ravaged by challenges of insecurity which have made Pharmacists and promoters of pharmaceutical businesses ex­tremely vulnerable particularly because emergency healthcare services and the intricacies of healthcare positions Communi­ty Pharmacies as the first port of call to access health services like is the norm globally.

“Naturally, practitioners of Pharmacy take on nocturnal responsibilities because of the severe dearth of Pharmacists nationwide. In a bid that the Commissioner of Police will understand and appreciate our plight, we wish to reflect.

“In recent years, more than 20 Pharmacists and others directly connected to pharmacy practice have been victims of armed robbers, kidnappers and hired killers, and other men of the underworld. We shall highlight a few of these cases. In 2019, a former member of the Executive Committee of the As­sociation of Community Prac­tice Pharmacists of Nigeria was murdered in cold blood while on active duty by hoodlums who also made away with his car in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“In Lagos, a notorious kid­napper abducted the promoter of a major Pharma importation company and was paid hun­dreds of thousands of dollars to stand any chance of regaining his freedom. It is a statement of fact that dozens of other Com­munity Pharmacists have been attacked and sometimes killed in many parts of the Lagos metropolis before yet another dastardly attack on Monday, July 15 targeted yet another Community Pharmacy located in Oko Oba, Orile Agege axis of Lagos.

“In this unending vicious cy­cle after personnel of the phar­macy was robbed and attempts were also made to abduct the promoter for further extortion but for the astuteness and re­sistance of the residents in that neighbourhood who came out to save the day,” the body added.

Exodus Of Licenced And Practicing Pharmacists

The PSN Lagos also ex­pressed deep concern over the exodus of licenced and practic­ing Pharmacists, blaming the situation on growing insecurity in the country.

“We put on record that Ni­geria is already extremely hit by an unprecedented exodus of licenced and practicing Pharmacists. From the records of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), out of the over 35,000 registered Pharmacists in Nigeria, less than 14,000 still obtain practicing licences in our country.

“One of the prime motivat­ing factors that incentivises many Pharmacists to leave this shore remains the poor securi­ty of lives and property which makes Pharmacists a ready target because most men of the underworld assume community pharmacies and other pharma­ceutical concerns are goldmine, which is not totally true against the realities of today’s econom­ic climate.

“It is important to explore this discourse to sensitise the office of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command to emulate the precedence and golden era put in place by past Commissioners of Police in the State like Assistant Inspec­tor-General, Israel Ajao (rtd.) and former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abuba­kar who held sway as Commis­sioners of Police in Lagos State.

“The laudable legacies left by both men was that they deployed men directly from the State Headquarters to help en­force Pharmacy and drug laws in Lagos State.

“This clamour for the support of the monitoring and control procedures of the PCN in those dispensations reduced the number of unregistered pharmacy premises which were in several hundreds of thousands as well as helped to extinguish the flames of unlaw­ful activities of operators in the Open Drug Markets in Balogun and Oniwaya areas of Agege and Bale Street in Ajegunle area. Improved monitoring and control will make it easy for the Police to consolidate its surveillance operations around registered Pharmacy facilities in Lagos State as the number will be manageable,” it added.

The Association further not­ed that the Ethics and Practice Committee of the Lagos PSN has recently deliberated on po­tential measures to enhance se­curity in Community Pharma­cies, considering options such as limiting operating hours and engaging private security firms.

However, it expressed deep concern regarding the poten­tial impact of the development on consumers, with fears of limited access to essential med­ications and increased prices. consequently, the PSN leader­ship of has decided to defer a final decision pending further guidance from the Commission­er of Police.

The petition reads, “The Ethics and Practice Committee of the PSN (Lagos State Branch) has evaluated its options in Community Pharmacies. Our options include limiting the op­eration hours not to go beyond 7.00 p.m. or patronise private security firms as collaborative players. These options will both be at great cost to consumers because it would mean that life­saving drugs will not be avail­able after closure at 7.00 pm or prices which are already high will further skyrocket to the peril of already disillusioned consumers of health who are already hard hit by prevalent prices if security costs are add­ed to drug prices. These factors compelled the leadership of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (Lagos State Branch) to reject both options for now pending when the Commission­er of Police gives us a position.”

Concluding, the PSN Lagos restates its prayers, “The Phar­maceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Lagos State Branch calls on the Commissioner of Police to immediately facilitate improved surveillance of reg­istered Pharmacy facilities in Lagos State to encourage Good Pharmacy Practice in Lagos State.

“The Commissioner of Police is hereby encouraged to facili­tate an urgent dialogue with the leadership of the PSN (Lagos State Branch) and Pharmacy Council of Nigeria PCN to work out modalities to boost moni­toring and control procedures in Lagos State like it used to be in previous dispensations with palpable positive results earlier stressed in this memo in the ultimate public interest.

“Finally, while wishing the Commissioner of Police very well in the arduous task of keeping Lagos State safe, we assure you of our willingness to become a workable team that fosters a partnership that will be inspiring at all times,” it con­cluded.“Finally, while wishing the Commissioner of Police very well in the arduous task of keeping Lagos State safe, we assure you of our willingness to become a workable team that fosters a partnership that will be inspiring at all times,” it concluded.

SOURCE: DAILY SUN NEWSPAPER

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