Pharmacists cry out as 5,208 colleagues join doctors, nurses in the great exodus
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Massive exodus of medical personnel is also taking along pharmacists as 5,208 of them have joined doctors and nurses to emigrate to greener pastures overseas in the past five years because of Abuja’s neglect of the healthcare sector and its workers.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) condemned the stagnation of registered pharmacists in the civil service which it said has led to their “unprecedented movement” away from the country.
PSN President Cyril Usifoh, a Professor, expressed regret that most pharmacists in the public sector are not allowed to reach salary Grade Level 17, the peak of their careers.
He declared an emergency in pharmaceutical practice when he spoke ahead of PSN 95th Annual National Scientific conference in Jos with the theme, “Medicine Security in an Unstable Economy”.
Usifor disclosed the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) gave letters of good standing to 803 pharmacists in 2021 alone but they leave for better work conditions in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
He urged the federal government to revert the trend through improved welfare, healthcare funding, infrastructure, and enabling environment, among others.
“The WHO recommended ratio of healthcare workers to the population is 23 to 1000 while in Nigeria; it is an abysmal 1.95 to 1000.
“Regarding the pharmacists component, there are 0.07 pharmacists to 1000 or 1 pharmacist to over 14,000 Nigerians,” Usifoh said.
“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the acceptable and recommended ratio of pharmacists to the population is one Pharmacist to 2000 of the population.”
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Stagnation of pharmacists in the public service
“We request for the promotion of pharmacists to level 17 as it is being done to other professionals in the public service across the board,” Usifoh said, adding the current scheme of service for pharmacists has been in use since 2005, per Vanguard.
“We hereby request for the immediate review of the scheme of service for pharmacists.
“This new scheme of service is expected to incorporate the enhanced entry point and enhanced call duty allowance for Pharm.D holders and the approved Consultancy Cadre for pharmacists.”
Non-implementation of circulars
Osifoh said despite government approval of the Consultancy Cadre for Pharmacists in 2019 and the issuance of several circulars from 2020, public sector pharmacists are still being denied their right to consultancy.
“We hereby request for the implementation of this circular across the board without further delay.
“The salary structure of pharmacists has remained the same for over a decade while that of their medical counterparts has been reviewed upwards twice in rapid succession.
“We hereby request for the upward review of the salary structure for pharmacists (CONHESS) to reflect the current realities as adjusted for CONMESS. This should be done as the plans are on to review all health workers’ salaries in the nation.”
Osifoh also decried the treatment of pharmacists in tertiary institutions, such as the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) and National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB)
“[They] have perpetually denied our members working in tertiary health institutions their rights to some privileges, claiming that only the above-mentioned agencies could give directives for implementation.
“We wish to request the Federal Ministry of Health or any other agencies issuing out circulars to also direct the above agencies appropriately.”