The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, has sealed 618 apothecaries and patent medicine stores in Rivers and Bayelsa states as part of its ongoing enforcement drive to regulate drugstore practice and insure public safety.
The Council said the affected demesne were shut down for colorful violations, including “ operating without valid licenses, failure to renew demesne enrollment , engaging in unauthorized clinical conditioning, illegal access to controlled drugs,
overstocking beyond the approved Patent drug List, training of unqualified apprentices, and merchandising medicines from noncommercial outlets ”, practices it described as unethical and inferior. The exercise, which began before this week, covered major original government areas including Port Harcourt,
Obio- Akpor, Ikwerre, and Etche in Rivers State, as well as Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa State. According to the PCN, a aggregate of 867 demesne were audited, comprising 344 apothecaries and 523 patent drug stores. While 536 demesne were sealed in Rivers, 82 demesne were sealed in Bayelsa.
Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the PCN’s National Head of Enforcement, Suleiman Chiroma, said, “ The pharmaceutical geography in Nigeria has been racked with chaotic medicine distribution, unlicensed/ illegal demesne, and running of drugs by unauthorized persons.
” He further revealed, “ A total number of 618 demesne were sealed in both countries which comprised of 178 apothecaries and 123 patent drug shops and 317 illegal shops for colorful offences while 9 demesne were issued compliance directives.
” According to Chiroma, five person were arrested and have been handed over to the security agencies for “ breaking the PCN Seal. ” The PCN’s National Head of Enforcement stressed the “ unfettered access to controlled drugs in bane cupboard bynon-pharmacists’ staff in apothecaries, ” in Rivers State.
Chiroma noted that the practice allows drugs to get into the hands of unauthorized persons for abuse, which poses a security threat to the general public. The Council also raised enterprises about some merchandisers making payments for enrollment without completing the full process, falsely presenting themselves as certified.
Emphasising that “ drugs are venoms and must be regulated, ” the PCN reiterated the significance of only trained labor force handling pharmaceutical products.
He prompted the public to corroborate that drugstore or patent drug merchandisers( PPMVs) display their sanctioned licences conspicuously within their demesne.
The Council further appealed to residers of Rivers and Bayelsa to be conservative about where they buy drugs and to report any suspicious conditioning to the PCN state services. The Council, established by the PCN Establishment Act No.
31 of 2022, is commanded to regulate and control the education, training, and practice of drugstore in all its angles, as well as apply the National medicine Distribution Guidelines for the safety and quality of drugs in Nigeria.
