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Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Zamfara chapter has raised an alarm over increased fake and counterfeit drugs circulating in the country.
The alarm is in a statement signed by the Chairman of the association, Mr Sani Bello in Gusau on Wednesday on the occasion of the World Pharmacist Day.
Celebrated annually on Sept. 25, the day was formulated by International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIB) Council in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009 to create awareness about the role of pharmacists in improving peoples’ health.
Bello noted that PSN would want government agencies to double their efforts toward steming the dangerous trend, saying “although government alone cannot execute the task without the support of all and sundry, especially the media, religious leaders, community leaders as well as nongovernmental organisations must assist.
“Part of the efforts made by PSN to eradicate fake drugs from the society was the call for the employment of pharmacists to man public health institutions, including Primary Healthcare Centres to guarantee quality handling and general administration of drugs.
“In addition to intensive public awareness on drugs, the organisation vowed to encourage the establishment of legal commercial outlets for drugs to be manned by qualified pharmaceutical manpower even if it means through the state government’s assistance.”
Bello commended the recent effort of the state government to boost manpower status in the state that included pharmacists through recent foreign scholarship awards to some Zamfara indigenes.
He said that the theme for this year’s celebration “Safe And Effective Medicine For All” was apt, as there could not be effective treatment without safe and effective medicines. (NAN)
