A call has gone to the government at various levels on the need to employ the services of more Pharmacists into the health care system and remunerate them appropriately.
This was the consensus of opinion made during the celebration of this year’s World Pharmacists by a number of pharmacists who spoke to our correspondent in Ilorin
Speaking on the theme of the World Pharmacists Day ” Research to Healthcare: Your Pharmacist is at your service”, the Kwara State Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Pharmacist Bakau Oyinloye Alli, decried the abysmally low number of Pharmacists in the country, calling for better placement for Pharmacists in the scheme of things.
Pharmacist Oyinloye Alli, said the theme of this year’s celebration is apt and timely, considering the peculiar and pivotal roles played by pharmacists in the prescription and administering of drugs in the country.
The Kwara State Chairman of the Society, who stressed the need to appreciate the roles of Pharmacists in the country, said the Society would further strengthen its collaboration with all regulatory bodies such as NAFDAC and NDLEA to ensure strict adherence to the use of drugs in the country.
Also speaking, Pharmacist Abdul-Hameed Lanre Alege, decried the low number of Pharmacists in the country, lamenting that there are seventeen thousand registered pharmacists in the country which is inadequate considering the population of Nigeria.
Pharmacist Lanre Alege added that the number of Pharmacists in Kwara State is grossly inadequate with seventeen pharmacists including the administrators to attend to the need of the people across the sixteen local government areas of the state.
He, therefore, emphasized that more pharmacists should be employed to bridge the gap, adding that more pharmacists are needed in the state to meet the healthcare needs of the people.
Corroborating his position, the Treasurer of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in the State, Pharmacist Munirat Bello, said there are forty-four secondary and primary healthcare institutions in the state, hence the need to employ more pharmacists.
Pharmacist Bello also cautioned the public against patronizing quacks, unregistered drug outlets and guide against misuse of drugs.
In his own view, Pharmacist Abu Saheed also stressed the need for a better remuneration for Pharmacist like their counterparts in other states.
Speaking on quackery, Pharmacist Abu Saheed said Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria has started a nationwide campaign against quackery.
The Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in the State, Pharmacist Busayomi Abolarin, decried the abuse of drugs in the society, saying that some of the abused drugs such as Tramadol and cough syrup are dispensed from unregistered outlets.
Pharmacist Abolarin, charged government at all levels to demonstrate the political will to weed out the abuse of drugs in the country and increase sensitization campaign against misuse of drugs.
