Lady Pharmacists Urge FG to Implement National Drug Distribution Guidelines

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

The Association of Lady Pharmacists (ALPs) has reiterated its earlier call on the federal government on the full implementation of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDGs) to enable pharmacists fulfil their roles in this implementation.

The call was contained in a communique the association issued during the 16th biennial delegates conference held in Benin-city, capital of Edo State, which climax at the weekend with the theme: ‘Making Healthcare Impact in Tandem With 2030 Sustainable Development Goals’. The conference also noted the devastating consequences of drug abuse on children and youths in the country and called on both parents and the youths to play vital roles in both primary and secondary prevention of substance abuse among youths in a bid to enhance healthy lives of the future generation of Nigerians.

It further called for proactive measures by pharmacists to ensure that controlled drugs are kept out of reach of children and street corners, maintaining that ethical drug distribution of Central Nervous System stimulants and other substances of abuse will go a long way in curbing illicit access.

Besides, the conference agreed that traditional models of pharmacy practice are undergoing a metamorphosis, and called on lady pharmacists and indeed all pharmacists to embrace technological advancements to harness new opportunities for novel practice models for improved health outcomes for the health seeking populations.

The conference, therefore, called on the government to provide an enabling environment to ensure pharmacists contribute to promoting rational use of drugs, manage chronic diseases, and support public health initiatives within the nation’s healthcare delivery system in a manner that will assure positive recognition of these contributions nationwide.

Reiterating the vital role pharmacists play in optimising medication use to improve patient health-a pivotal role in advancing Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the conference called on all pharmacists, especially lady pharmacists, to continue to deliver exemplary patient care by ensuring access to essential medicines, providing preventive health services, managing chronic diseases, combating infectious diseases, promoting mental health, supporting emergency preparedness, and advocating health policy to assure qualitative health outcomes and healthy lives for the Nigerian populace.

Conference called on government and all relevant stakeholders to promote specialisation in pharmacy practice by

putting in place required policies and procedures to be met by those ready to pursue them as well as encouraged them to enhance their knowledge and skills about medicinal plants and apply them to patient care, just as it called on state chapters to domesticate Project ’91 in their state by establishing standardised medicinal plant gardens to serve as a source of properly cultivated and harvested herbal products for the state.

In her welcome address, the National Chairman of ALPs, Scholastica Mnena Lan, stated that since the birth of the association in 1988, it has consistently held conferences every two years by states of the federation to give a sense of representation to all the hardworking colleagues spread across different practices in the country.