Nigeria seals 25,000 illegal pharmacies in eight years – Official
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Loading... - Pamela Njoku
- 09 Jun 2022
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Nigerian authorities have sealed at least 25,000 illegal pharmacies in the past eight years.
The outgoing registrar of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Elijah Mohammed, made this known at the public presentation of his scorecard in Abuja on Tuesday.
Mr Mohammed said the illegal premises were sealed due to various reasons including poor hygienic environment, poor documentation, and improper regularisation of papers.
“The illegal pharmaceutical premises that were closed down within the past eight years are over 25,000 across the nation.
“They were closed down due to various reasons including poor hygienic environment, poor documentation, improper regularisation of papers and improper behaviours in the shops and premises,” he said.
Increased faculties
Mr Mohammed said before his appointment eight years ago, there were 17 pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences faculties in the country.
He said the figure has increased to 30, with more ready to kick-start in the next few months.
He said the PCN, charged with the responsibility to control and regulate the pharmacy education, training and practice, has been able to put in place a new programme; ‘Doctor of pharmacy’ which combines both clinical and non-clinical concepts of pharmacy practice.
“Before now, the practice was product focused, but now it is patient focused. What that means is that whether you are in production, sale, distribution, or dispensing of drugs, the patient is the focus and what impact it is going to have on our patient. And with that concern, everybody is sitting up now to ensure that whatever product is coming out, the patient is paramount.”
Mr Mohammed said the PCN encountered some challenges in these years, including human resources and infrastructure. Read More...
