Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed 309 Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendor shops and 17 pharmacies, while 19 other related outfits were issued ‘compliance directives’ to meet the regulatory body’s standards.
The Director, Inspection and Monitoring of the PCN, Mrs. Antonia Aruya, disclosed this in Minna after the first phase of the council’s moves to bring sanity to drug distribution channels in Niger State.
Aruya however explained that their mission was not to run anyone out of business but to ensure safety of drugs channels from source to consumers.
She said that the visit was part of efforts to streamline distribution system and improve level of pharmaceutical services delivery to Nigerians.
The PCN inspection and monitoring team discovered that many of the persons handling drugs in Niger State were ‘barely educated’ enough to understand and manage risks associated with some categories of medicines and therefore urged the state government to check the anomalies.
“Adherence to approved scope of practice in terms of training and approval was largely non-existent as people without requisite knowledge or skills to handle medicines in their facilities abound, including improper handling of controlled substances was observed.
“Some persons were found to be unable to communicate in English, a situation that could result in a plethora of treatment misadventures with grave public health implications”, she said, adding that issues of medicine and medications administration should not be an all comers’ affairs to avoid inherent dangers.
The PCN visit is the first phase in the line-up of procedures at streamlining the various channels to guarantee proper handling to end deaths due to drugs abuses, Aruya said during the press conference which took place at Dogon-Koli Hotel, Minna.