No fewer than 431 premises of pharmacies and patent medicine in Imo State were sealed by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN for varying noticeable offences.
Mrs. Anthonia O. Aruya, the PCN’s Director, Inspection and Monitoring, who stated this during a press conference in Owerri, expressed shock at the way many people go into sale of medicines without following due process.
“No fewer than 431 premises were sealed, comprising 45 pharmacies and 386 patent medicine stores”, Aruya said.
According to the PCN Director, “13 premises were given compliance directives for various offences, ranging from improper handling of of controlled substances, unhygienic environment, poor documentation, as well as dispensing ethical and prescription drugs without the presence of a pharmacist.”
Answering a question, Mrs. Aruya said that her team visited 522 premises, including 103 pharmacies and 419 PPMVs, in parts of the state.
“Observations from the field in Imo State, revealed that many people go into sale of medicines without following due process. Others do not have the requisite knowledge or skills to handle medicines in their premises or are operating beyond their approved scope”, Aruya said.
Another thing she found very disheartening was that “some could not communicate in plain English and operated these illegal shops at will to the detriment of the unsuspecting public”.
She maintained that the law provides that all pharmaceutical facilities must register with PCN, pointing out that such owners must ensure continuous licensure of same, to legally key into the drug distribution chain in Nigeria.
“The implication of non-licensure is the fact that drugs sold in such facilities cannot be guaranteed to have the same quality and efficacy, as set by the manufacturers, since they have not been subjected to regulatory control that will promote the maintenance of the integrity of such products down the value chain,” Aruya explained.
