Pharmacists Pay Courtesy Visit To PCN Registrar, Request Creation of More Spaces for Pharmacy Interns

Members of the newly elected National Executive Committee of the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria (AHAPN) led by the National Chairman, Dr. Kingsley Chiedu Amibor paid a courtesy call on the Registrar of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) in his office at Idu, Abuja recently. The team was well received by the Registrar of the Council, Pharm. Elijah A. Mohammed FPSN, FPCPharm, FNAPharm and his team of directors, among whom were Pharm Peter Iliya, Deputy Director, Public Relations, Pharm Babashehu Ahmed, Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Pharm Anthony Idoko, Deputy Director Education and Training, Mr. K.I. Munir, Deputy Director, Administration and Mr. O. A. Wefayo, Director Finance and Accounts.

On the entourage of AHAPN were the Vice Chairman, Pharm Abdullahi Ameh, FPCPharm, the immediate past National Chairman, Pharm. Martins Oyewole MAW and another past National Chairman, Pharm Abdulaziz Idris. Others were the Chairman, AHAPN Federal Capital Territory Branch, Pharm Peter Enemarie, Ex officio members of the association in the persons of Pharm Jelili Kilani (Chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, FCT Branch) and Pharm Luka Wetben. Others were Pharm Chinelo Okonkwo of the National Hospital Abuja and Pharm Tina Alaedu and Pharm Munir Elelu FPSN.

In his speech, the National Chairman said they there to introduce members of the newly elected National Executive Committee (NEC) to the Registrar, and to appreciate the Registrar for his numerous innovations to the regulation of pharmacy education and practice in Nigeria. Dr Amibor listed the achievements of the Registrar to include introduction of online registration and renewal of annual licenses by pharmacists which has removed the bottlenecks surrounding manual registration, thereby saving valuable time for pharmacists. The Registrar was also commended for the introduction of Online Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) which according to Amibor, has definitely improved the efficiency of the learning process, thereby saving valuable time and resources for pharmacists, who before now had to travel long distances to participate in the programme in different states and zones of the country with the attendant risks.

The Registrar was equally commended for strengthening pharmaceutical inspectorate activities nationwide, which has resulted in the closure of many illegal and unregistered premises that had before now, served as reservoir for unwholesome and adulterated medicines. They also commended the robust relationship existing between the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and the

Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN). Equally commended was the effort being made at reviewing the obsolete pharmacy laws.

The association then placed her list of demands before the Registrar, chief of which was the provision of more spaces for internship for fresh pharmacy graduates. According to the association, “It is no longer news that pharmacy graduates now roam the streets of Nigeria in search of nonexistent spaces for the mandatory one year internship which has assumed a worrisome dimension in the recent past. While we commend the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria for authoring the document for central placement of interns, we wish to observe that the process has not commenced yet, resulting in untold hardship for graduates and parents alike, who are compelled to keep catering for their children and wards several years after leaving school.” Continuing, Dr. Amibor said “We believe the PCN is in a position to enforce legislation that will compel industries and employers of labour in the country to absorb more interns in their various establishments for their training programme. The Council should also bring pressure to bear on the management of tertiary and other health institutions to increase the number of internship slots for pharmacy and other interns from other disciplines. The Council is also encouraged to increase the number of community pharmacies accredited to train pharmacy interns in their various community outlets. And of course, universities, research institutes and pharmaceutical industries should be allocated a minimum number of slots for internship placement.”

The association urged the Council to put her feet down as it concerns accreditation of health care institutions intending to establish pharmacy departments in their hospitals. “What we are simply saying is that the PCN should put her feet down and insist on following specifications when it comes to inspection or accreditation of health care institutions, since pharmacy practice would be better off for it. Similarly Sir, we are aware that most private hospitals in Nigeria do not have pharmacists in their employment. I had the privilege of visiting one such big private hospital, and asked for the pharmacist on duty, only to be told that the pharmacist does not work during the weekends. So who covers the pharmacy at such times?” I asked.

The association also lamented the acute shortage of pharmacists in all government hospitals and healthcare institutions in Nigeria. “It is common knowledge that there is paucity of pharmacists covering the various health institutions in Nigeria, including those at federal, state and private levels. This trend can no longer be allowed to continue. It also falls short of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended standard of 1 pharmacist per 2000 population. The matter is worse with government hospitals. We urge the PCN to champion advocacy for employment of more pharmacists in government hospitals in Nigeria, in collaboration with PSN and AHAPN.”

The Association also touched on the mismanagement of the Drug Revolving Fund scheme in various hospitals nationwide. “We wish to bring to your notice the impunity going on with the management of drug revolving funds by government hospitals across the country. Some chief medical directors are resorting to buying pharmaceutical consumables from the open drug market; some others are encouraging store attendants to byepass pharmacists and issue medicines directly to end users. This practice is definitely not acceptable to us and must be discouraged. Several resolutions were taken at the recently concluded 20th Annual National Scientific Conference of AHAPN in Port Harcourt, which had as its theme “Functional Drug Revolving Funds for Sustainable Medicines Availability and National

Security.” A copy of the Communiqué is attached for your necessary action Sir. We believe the resolutions contained therein can act as a fulcrum for strengthening the Drug Revolving Fund and we urge you to use your good offices to ensure that, including payment of DRF allowance to pharmacists as contained in the original DRF Document.”

Another area touched on was the exclusion of pharmacy students from clinical rotation in government hospitals. “Patient care globally is a collaborative practice; hence no group or individual should lay claim to ownership of patients, especially in government hospitals. We urge the PCN to immediately enter into discussion with relevant authorities to remove all hindrances and bottlenecks against pharmacy students from acquiring hands-on experience in their various places of learning” Dr. Amibor stated.

The association also sought for the assistance of the Council in her resolve to adopt and implement pharmaceutical care as a philosophy of practice in Nigeria.

Other areas touched on included government sponsorship of pharmacists for the doctor of pharmacy conversion programme; appropriate placement of holders of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree in the Scheme of Service for pharmacists, in line with international best practice; release of Consultancy Circular for fellows of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) which is long overdue, and ensuring appropriate placement of such fellows in the scheme of service and removal of all forms of career stagnation involving our members in government hospitals. The association made a plea to the Registrar to encourage his pharmacy staff who are automatic members of the association, to identify with all the activities embarked upon by the association.

The association also decried the practice of non pharmacists taking over the jobs of qualified pharmacists in the Pharma industries. “We are aware that all kinds of people are taking over jobs hitherto reserved for pharmacists as medical representatives in industries. Although this does not affect us directly as hospital and administrative pharmacists, nevertheless, we are pharmacists and we are not at all impressed that charlatans and mediocres are taking over jobs meant for our colleagues. We urge the Council to look into this trend with a view to putting a stop to it.”

The National Chairman then announced an award for the Registrar “It is also our pleasure to confer the AHAPN Outstanding Leadership Award on you today, in recognition of your numerous innovative services to the Pharmacy Profession.” They also donated copies of the first and second editions of the association’s Journal (The Health System Pharmacist) to the Registrar. Welcoming the visitors, the Registrar

acknowledged the support of the association to the Council over the years, and thereafter commented on all the points raised by the association.

On the issue of lack of internship space for fresh pharmacy graduates, Pharm Mohammed said of a truth, the PCN was the first group to write for central placement of interns, but the process was hijacked. He said the council was deeply worried about the plight of these fresh graduates and was weighing the various options before the Council. One of such options is to treat the interns in the same way as they do corpers (National Youth Service Corp members), in which case they would be pulled out of the general salary structure, and placed on monthly allowances just like corpers. Other options according to him included opening more spaces in the industries and community pharmacies and encouraging universities to return their best graduates back for the internship programme. He mentioned that there are over 300 outlets accredited for internship currently, but these are obviously grossly inadequate. He promised that the number of spaces would definitely increase by next year.

On the issue of inspection of hospitals, he said inspectorate teams are now being headed by professors, promising that AHAPN members will subsequently be included in the teams. He also touched on the need for harmony in the healthcare sector, promising that he would be meeting shortly with the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in this regard. He mentioned that all the 46 legal cases pending before the Council at the instance of NAPPMED had been dispensed with, and the Council was now free from legal encumbrances. He also added that patent medicine vendors were already being regulated by the council.

Pharm Mohammed promised that the Council will support the adoption of pharmaceutical care as a philosophy of Pharmacy practice, pledging that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will be recruited to assist.

On the issue of non pharmacists taking over jobs of pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industries, the Registrar mentioned that there is a new law awaiting presidential consent that will mandate all such industries to be registered with the PCN, and that will make for ethical products to be handled strictly by pharmacists. The new law will also address the issue of codeine abuse.

The Registrar promised that by next year, the issue of Drug Revolving Fund (DRF) will be addressed more seriously. He regretted the fact that pharmacy students were being denied access to patients bedside by hospital management, despite international best practice and promised that the Council will look into it with a view to working out an amicable solution together with other stakeholders.

Pharm Mohammed commended the association for the Award bestowed on him, promising that the award will spur him to sacrifice more for the profession.