The National Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Dr Adewale Oladigbolu has urged the Federal Government to include pharmacists in all healthcare activities in the country.
Oladigbolu made the call at the opening of the 41st Annual National Scientific Conference of ACPN on Tuesday in Lagos.
Reports have it that the theme of the conference is: ‘Never Waste A Crisis: Community Pharmacists, Learning For Future Preparedness’.
He said the pharmacists could be included as primary healthcare providers in the National Health Insurance Scheme and by signing the new Pharmacy Bill.
“This will go a long way to engender healthier nation. Community Pharmacists in Nigeria are equipped with great skills and are doing a lot in their space.
“And we are ready to work to make Nigeria a more beautiful nation,” he said.
He explained that COVID-19 vaccination in Community Pharmacies had been approved via a Memorandum of Partnership (MOP) with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
According to him, the association now have a National Working Committee in place to see to the closure of routine immunisation gaps, by securing approval for community pharmacists as providers.
The President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof. Cyril Usifoh, said that the conference provided opportunities for stock taking and strategic planning for the future preparedness.
Usifoh said preparedness entailed that community pharmacists and other pharmacists in other practice areas, acquired appropriate skills and expertise to be able to offer care services that would save lives in future.
“According to International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), COVID-19 pandemic really exposed gaps in our public healthcare delivery systems globally.
“Pharmacy has been one of the essential resources deployed to address most of the noted gaps in the fight against the pandemic.
“What needed to be examined critically is whether health systems especially in Nigeria is making the most use of what pharmacists can offer.”
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaibu, urged the pharmacists to live up to the mandates given to them by their integration into the primary healthcare delivery system in Nigeria.
Shuaibu, also a keynote speaker at the event, said the conference availed pharmacists and participants the opportunity not only to deliberate and exchange views, but to learn.
He added that the conference provided participants the opportunity to learn, unlearn and relearn to equip themselves with contemporary mechanisms in the management of health crisis and surviving through it.
“This is not only a retrospective call to community pharmacists, but also an introspective call to Nigeria Healthcare stakeholders and policymakers, to rethink and rejig the Nigeria healthcare system in readiness for future health crisis.
“Unfortunately, the recent global pandemic has amplified our voices and made the hesitancy in some quarters a mist that will fade with time,” he said.
The conference featured exhibition for pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies to display their services and products.