As part of its roles in the regulatory roles, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN, has given approval for the training of pharmacy technicians by private Colleges/ and Schools of Health Technology.
The development, which enables up to 67 per cent increase in admission quota for pharmacy technician applicants for the accredited institutions, has also increased the number of pharmacy technicians produced annually in the country.
The move, which is part of the PCN’s transformational drive, increases the number of accredited Colleges/Schools of Health Technology to 26 from 18 in 2009.
Registrar of the PCN, Pharm Elijah Mohammed who disclosed this in a chat with Good Health Weekly, said during a review of the accreditation process and guidelines for Colleges/Schools of Health Technologies in the country, the PCN approved private Colleges/ and Schools of Health Technology because the training of pharmacy tecnicians is essential to the nation’s health care delivery.
His words: “ As one of the stakeholders in Pharmacy profession, the PCN, recently organised an interactive forum with Provosts of accredited Colleges/Schools of Health Technology and Heads of Departments of Pharmacy Technicians training programme to review pharmacy technicians training curriculum so as to boost its content in line with global best practices to enhance their practice, eligibility for admission into Nigerian Universities through direct entry and eligibility for commissioning into certain higher cadres in the Nigerian Armed Forces.” He said the Council prescribes the curriculum for training, indexes the students, supervises and approves the final examinations in addition to determining the human resource requirements and other components required for teaching and learning, among others in these institutions.
Sandwich programme
Further, Mohammed said approval has been granted to the request of Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese, for retraining of holders of pharmacy technician certificates of the College who graduated between 2000 – 2015 when the programme was not accredited by the Council.
“Consequently, a special sandwich programme is currently being organized, for these students who numbered 1,200 at the Colleges of Health Technology, Lagos, Kwara and Oyo States.
Other measures taken to reposition the PCN include the review of Patent and Proprietary Medicines Vendors guidelines which give preference to Pharmacy Technicians to operate the shops with expanded list of medicines and new designation.
“We have reviewed the entry qualification for the Pharmacy Degree programme with National Universities Commission to accord recognition to Pharmacy Technician Certificates from the PCN accredited Colleges/Schools of Health Technology for direct entry.
He said a Task Shifting/Task Sharing for Pharmacy Technicians particularly in programmes like HIV/AIDs which was submitted to FMOH has been developed, alongside Mandatory Continuing Professional Development modules for Pharmacy Technicians.
Meanwhile, collaboration is ongoing with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) for proper placement of pharmacy technicians within the framework of primary health care services such that they head the drug stores at the Local Government headquarters and, handling of dispensing of drugs at the facility levels
By: Sola Ogundipe
Vanguard News
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