Pharmacists under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos State branch have called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to without further delay lift the suspension on the consultant cadre for pharmacists in the state.
Chairman of the Lagos State branch of PSN, Mr. Oyekunle Babayemi, who expressed disappointment that the decision of the Governor Sanwo-Olu to suspend the approved cadre by the regime of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in May, 2028, following a fruitful negotiation between the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos State; and the state government, said the policy is desirable in the value chain of healthcare delivery.
“In 2018, the Executive Council of LASG approved Consultancy Cadre for Pharmacists in Public Sector but suspended same benefit package on the promptings of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA). That is the way it still stands till today under the Sanwo-Olu administration.
“It is imperative to impress it on the progressive Sanwo-Olu-led government that healthcare is driven by international best practices and therefore cannot be restricted to the humongous as well as insatiable appetite to regulate through slowing down the growth and development of other professions by Nigerian physicians.’’
Babayemi, who spoke at the association’s 2023 annual luncheon, explained that “The Consultancy cadre is a reality across the globe from the UK, USA, France and Austria to African countries including Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Egypt and South Africa. It is largely driven by a need for Pharmacists to have the right knowledge to help support our patients.
“As challenges come with complications in patient therapy where care providers have to deal with multiple disease states in one patient, pharmacists must adequately respond by acquiring these competencies to bring deliverables in the value chain of healthcare delivery.”
He appealed to Sanwo-Olu to approve the implementation of the cadre for the benefit of healthcare delivery in the state.
“For the umpteenth time therefore, we respectfully call on Babajide Sanwo-Olu to immediately activate the Consultancy Cadre in Public Sector Pharmacy Practice. LASG must recognise and approve the Consultancy Cadre for all deserving health workers to boost competencies/capacities in peaceable dispensations and emergencies which are bound to arise.
Babayemi further said, “It will hurt us in PSN (Lagos State) if in the course of the days ahead, the LASG compels our Hospital Pharmacists to join other health workers to declare a long avoidable trade dispute through an imminent strike of the JOHESU/AHPA at federal level and states which have peculiar challenges like we are currently passing through in Lagos State.
“The PSN (Lagos State) openly identified with this administration in trying times and we do hope this will count for something in the light of this submission,’’ he said.
The pharmacists’ body also drew the attention of the Sanwo-Olu to the need to boost the manpower needs in the state’s healthcare delivery by establishing a Faculty/College of Pharmacy at Lagos State University (LASU).
Babayemi reminded the governor of his campaign promise to establish a College of Pharmacy approved by the PCN in Lagos State.
“It is mind boggling that the famed Centre of Excellence does not have a Pharmacy School when it is supposed to lead others in care provisioning for the over 20 million residents of Lagos State, even though we are aware pronouncements have been made by the authority at LASU.
“We call on Governor Sanwo-Olu to improve the manpower needs in healthcare in Lagos State by immediately facilitating the commencement of a degree programme at Lagos State University (LASU) through the establishment of a Faculty/College of Pharmacy immediately.
“In the quest to open the restricted borders of progression in healthcare in Nigeria, we strongly urge Sanwo-Olu to direct unhindered access of training facilities to all health workers in training at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.”
He said, “a way of setting the right agenda in the proposed College of Pharmacy was to recruit an experienced Provost who is a Professor of Pharmacy without hesitation.
“We certainly have a preponderance of these highly qualified skilled technocrats in the South-west of Nigeria including indigenes of Lagos State. The PSN (Lagos State) therefore encourages the LASG to make this a priority in the months ahead.”
He also urged the state government to commence the payment of Retention Allowances to Pharmacists and the entire Pharmacy workforce in the employment of LASG as mutually agreed during the tripartite consultations on the platform of JOHESU/NUAHP/PSN (Lagos State) and a delegation of LASG chieftains led by the Special Adviser, Labour to the Governor in March 2023.
“In the twilight of the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial elections when we had tripartite consultations on the platform of JOHESU/NUAHP/PSN (Lagos State) and a delegation of LASG chieftains led by the Special Adviser, Labour to the Governor, one of the areas of mutual agreement was to commence the payment of Retention Allowances to Pharmacists and the entire Pharmacy workforce in the employment of LASG.
“It leaves a very sour taste in the mouth that Pharmacists were not part of the pioneer group of beneficiaries of this package and it becomes condemnable that the LASG is still foot-dragging on this request.
“It is important to state that for the LASG which places a premium on IGR, Pharmacy remains the most fertile ground when ethically driven. Pharmaceutical Research, Development and Practice is currently worth over $2 trillion globally with Nigeria having a fair $1.5 billion stake.
“If the LASG chooses to cater for its Pharmacist Cadre through wise investments, the sector can provide more jobs for the teeming youths in addition to instituting wellness and good health in our rapidly growing population.
“We encourage the LASG to utilise the goodwill of its experienced Directors of Pharmacy to revive the collapsing fortunes of its DRF by initiating legislative action for a sustainable procurement and good distribution model of drugs in Lagos State which can be catalysed by the PCN Act 2022,’’ he said.
