Lagos -The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) on Thursday decried the dearth of pharmacists in the nation’s health facilities to attend to the healthcare needs of Nigerians.
Mr Elijah Mohammed, the council’s Registrar, said this at the 2015 Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Lagos State Branch Week in Lagos.
Its theme is: “Good Pharmacy Practice – The Key to Better Health Outcomes.’’
Mohammed said, “There are not enough pharmacists in the country considering the large population, and this insufficiency needs to be addressed for better service outcomes.
“The total number of registered pharmacists in Nigeria, as at 2014, is 19,062 and the licensed pharmacists practising as of 2014 are 11,337.
“An additional 56,005 pharmacists are needed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) standards.’’
Mohammed also said that there was inequitable distribution of pharmacists in the country.
He said that there was a greater percentage of them in the urban areas, with the highest density in the Southern part of the country.
Mohammed listed some of the challenges facing pharmacists to include obsolete and conflicting legislation with decades of neglected and poor enforcement of the laws, as well as inadequate manpower.
“They lack common vision and a unified sense of purpose, collaboration among stakeholders, inadequate funding, brain drain, challenges of a developing economy and poor distribution of pharmaceutical services outlets.’’
He noted that ways to address the challenges would include improvement of infrastructure in the rural areas, access to finance, human capital development and replacing obsolete laws and regulatory barriers.
Also, Mr Gbenga Olubowale, the Chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Lagos State branch, said that the basis of all pharmaceutical intervention was for “Good Pharmacy Practice’’.
“Adopting the concept of good pharmacy practice will guarantee that the consuming public gets the best from the pharmacists at all times.
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“Good pharmacy practice requires that at all times, a pharmacist’s concern in all settings is the welfare of patients.
“This, amongst other things, require good attitude and comportment, being sensitive and also being knowledgeable about current trends in the medical and health sector,” Olubowale added. (NAN)