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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Pharmacists Raise Concerns Over Staff Depletion in Lagos

From ThisDay · (3h ago) English Critical tone

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in Lagos is alarmed by a severe shortage of pharmacists in the state's services.
  • This depletion threatens effective drug regulation and patient safety, with critical functions like inspection and counterfeit medicine enforcement at risk.
  • The PSN urges Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to approve immediate recruitment and consider redeploying senior pharmacists to bolster regulatory operations.

Lagos, Nigeria – The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Lagos State branch, has sounded a grave alarm over the alarming depletion of pharmacists within the state's public health services. This critical shortage, according to the PSN, poses a significant threat to the integrity of drug regulation and, more importantly, the safety of patients across Lagos.

the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services is responsible for the supervision and administration of critical operations such as pharmaceutical inspection, drug quality control, counterfeit medicine enforcement, malaria control programmes, and drug abuse campaigns

— Olaitan OgunladeThe Chairman of PSN Lagos State explains the crucial role of the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services.

Olaitan Ogunlade, Chairman of the PSN Lagos State branch, highlighted during the society's Annual Luncheon that the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services (DPS) is struggling to maintain its statutory responsibilities due to a severe lack of registered pharmacists. This situation exposes the healthcare system to potential breaches, impacting vital operations such as pharmaceutical inspections, quality control, and the enforcement against counterfeit medicines.

It is noteworthy that the expansion of the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services into the Health Service Commission, State Primary Healthcare Board and recently Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has taken a huge toll on the Directorate of Pharmaceutical Services at the Lagos State Ministry of Health where there is only one functional Director in a Directorate that structurally encompasses over ten (10) Units.

— Olaitan OgunladeOgunlade details how the expansion of services has strained the existing resources within the Directorate.

The PSN's appeal to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is urgent. They implore the governor to not only approve the immediate recruitment of new pharmacists but also to consider the temporary redeployment of senior pharmacy officers. This measure, they argue, is essential to reinforce regulatory operations that are currently suffering. The society emphasizes that adherence to the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Act 2022 is paramount, and the current staffing levels make such compliance increasingly difficult, jeopardizing the health and well-being of Lagosians.

A vividly obvious breach remains the handling and dispensing of some drug products in some of the health programmes of the Lagos State Ministry of Health contrary to Section 22 of the PCN Act 2022 as amended which provides that in all locations where drugs are stocked in Nigeria, the facility must comply with statues of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) in addition to Superintendent Pharmacists who are in direct and personal control of drugs use and management

— Olaitan OgunladeOgunlade points out a specific breach in drug handling procedures due to the staff shortage.
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Originally published by ThisDay. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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