PCN Bill: ACPN Seeks Members Support, Urges Closure of Shop May 7

Members of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) have been urged not to open for business tomorrow, May 7, as a way of expressing their displeasure toward the non-passage of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Bill into law.

The Bill which has passed through the Red and Green Chambers since 2017 had not been signed into law.

ACPN has also communicated the matter to President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter entitled, “AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE NEED TO GIVE ASSENT TO THE PENDING PHARMACY COUNCIL OF NIGERIA BILL 2017”

The Letter was jointly sigened by the APCN Chairman, Pharm. Samuel Adekola MAW and the National Secretary, Pharm. (Mrs.) Abosede Idowu.

A statement today signed by the Director of Information and Communication (DIC), ACPN, Pharm Oluwaseyi Charles, made available to The Revealer, said the decision by the National Executive Council (NEC) of ACPN to take appropriate action to draw government’s attention to the need for them to pass the PCN Bill into law was taken at a recent NEC meeting in Kano.

“Last week I was at the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) National Executives Council meeting at Kano. The Pharmacy bill issues dominated many other discussions when it was raised. The National Chairman bristled on sit as he encouraged members to make choice between doing nothing and making sacrifices at this emergency minutes. He retorted that members can choose to write their names on the history of time or wait for a proper mourning of the bill whose funeral is slated for 29th of May.

“After a thorough consideration and deliberations, the NEC resolved that all Pharmacies in Nigeria should withdraw their services on  Tuesday, 7th of May, 2019 between the hour of 12noon to 2pm to register their annoyance with the current stalemate. This will involve media engagement and public awareness of the current circumstances surrounding the Bill.

“As a community pharmacist bedeviled with a lot of supplanters and impostors, this is perhaps the toughest decision anyone can ever advice you to take. But reasons also abound why this may be the most honourable action you have ever taken in recent years.

DIC while calling on ACPN members to close their pharmacies tomorrow said, “You should close your pharmacy tomorrow to be a part of this historical protest which will never be forgotten when the cloud is over

“You should close your pharmacy tomorrow to tell Nigerians that you are not  there with them only to make money, but also as a professional that is concerned about the rising pervasion of drug abuse that is ravaging our dear nation

“You should close your pharmacy tomorrow to tell PCN, NAFDAC – your sole regulators, that you are on their side

“You must close your pharmacy tomorrow to tell PSN president that this is one of the ultimate sacrifices you can pay to support his relentless sweat

“You should close your pharmacy tomorrow to pledge allegiance to the ACPN National Executives and NEC whom you choose to represent you: that you trust them and believe their judgement

“You must close your pharmacy tomorrow to let the world know how you feel about drug abuse

“You should close your pharmacy tomorrow to stir confidence in the young pharmacists like me who believe you are a chief primary health care provider who deserved to be heard

“Although this untrodden path may seems unpopular , I believe the huge success ahead worths the sacrifice, adding that “And when all is said and done, it will be remembered, what you have done!” He said.

The ACPN letter to the President read:

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has continued to evaluate recent public health concerns with regards to the increasing challenges of drug abuse and misuse in Nigeria.

This development obviously further complicates the perennial woes of fake as well as falsified drugs in our nation and naturally should bother all promoters of Good Pharmacy Practice in Nigeria. We as part of a global community will continue to collaborate and strategize along the lines of global best practices particularly with alliance partners including International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), World Health Organization (WHO), African Pharmaceutical Forum (APF) and the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) to clamor for standards and ideals which will ultimately boost consumerism as well as professionalism in Nigeria.

For emphasis this bill should be assented to for the reflected reasons which include:

1. The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Bill 2017 is very consistent with similar laws in the Commonwealth League of Nations, where regulatory laws and statutes have become very sacred in keeping pace with the norms and ethos of public health. Examples of such pharmacy regulatory laws in some Commonwealth nations include; General Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain, Pharmacy Council of Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa. Others are National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in United States of America (a wholly Government owned pharmacy regulatory body) and Pharmacy Council of Canada among others. It is a statement of fact that many less endowed African nations have today polished their pharmacy laws to meet global best practices such that the terminal consequences of poor statutes, weak enforcement, and so on which engender easy access to drugs to promote the vicious cycle of drug abuse and misuse, falsified drug syndrome etc. are gradually being eliminated in these climes. This is the same purpose the new Pharmacy Council Bill is intended to achieve.
2. One of the philosophies of the National Drug Policy 2005 is to guarantee that Nigerians have access to safe, efficacious and affordable medicines. This is a cardinal responsibility of every Government to its citizenry. One of the major benefit packages of PCN bill is that it opens a unique window of competence driven service rendition at all levels. The new Satellite Pharmacy concept gives us the prospects of additional pharmaceutical premises in hundreds of thousand range manned by registered pharmacist. The Bill provides that any pharmacist who has over ten (10) year post-qualification experience can own a satellite pharmacy not withstanding his primary practice option. What this does

is that professional service points in pharmacy will increase from about five thousand (5000) we currently have to over one hundred thousand (100,000) in Nigeria. These satellite Pharmacies in turn have mandate to provide oversight in a manner of hub and spoke model over the Patent and Proprietary Medicines Vendors thereby improving their regulation. The enforcement of sales of medicines in only registered pharmacies and patent medicines stores by the PCN is the only way to permanently redress the menace of drug abuse and falsified drug syndrome in Nigeria. This has been prescribed by the Poison and Pharmacy Act.

3. The PCN Bill 2017 clearly prohibits sale of drugs in unauthorized places such as open drug markets, this in essence is in tandem with the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) which is the official Government tool structured to impose decorum in the unwieldy drug distribution channels which Nigeria currently contends with. Today as it stands Government moves to replace the unlawful open market structures with Coordinated Wholesale Centers (CWC) need to be grounded in lawful templates which the PCN bill guarantees. The responsibilities of the critical stakeholders and in particular our regulators like PCN, NAFDAC, NDLEA as well as police will automatically be enhanced once all the necessary reforms are formalized.
4. Pharmacy Laws are laced with very substantial antiquity because the first Pharmacy Ordinance was enacted in 1887. This has been tinkered with severally through a series of metamorphosis in evolving Acts till the modern-day variants like the PCN Cap 17 LFN 2004 and the PPA Cap 535 LFN 1990. The consequences of these acts of negligence remains the vulnerability of the PCN and Federal Government and the Honorable Minister of Health to unending litigations which reduces the efficiency of the PCN in carrying out its statutory mandate.
5. The PCN bill in question has also removed all ambiguities with regards to offences and relevant commensurate sanctions applicable to all players. This is particularly significant because owners of unregistered premises, those who sell products they are not legally licensed to sell and those who violate the condition precedence attached to their licensure will better appreciate the consequences of their unlawful endeavors and acts.
6. Flowing directly from above, the PCN bill particularly compels PHARMACISTS to show more responsibility in their professional practice. The need for discipline is showcased at greater heights because the Disciplinary Tribunal is geared to wield the big stick on erring pharmacists and pharmaceutical premises in the best interest of consumers of health.
7. The PCN bill also has the unique feature of unhindered empowerment as all professionals and their cadres of practice are registered as distinct legal entities. The PCN bill will therefore feature for public consumption a gazette of registered pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, registered retail, wholesale, importation, manufacturing, CWC and satellite pharmacies. The peculiar registration format will also highlight all patent and Proprietary medicines vendors license holders in Nigeria for proper scrutiny.
8. The PCN bill has also taken care of effective management of resources by presenting a robust yet broad spectrum structure that can work maximally in the interest of the pharma-sector to enhance service delivery at all times. Finally, the ACPN appeals to the Federal Government to heed this clarion call to engender a new agenda of productivity, professionalism, self-sufficiency in local production and regulatory excellence in the pharma-sector. These achievements will change the narratives and place the pharma-sector in good stead to contribute to National Gross Domestic Products (GDP).