The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, as part of efforts to fulfill its mandate of regulating the practice of pharmacy has carried out enforcement activities in Kaduna State.
A total of 395 premises were sealed; and some of the owners of these premises have been visiting the PCN zonal office in Kaduna to fulfill conditions for registration.
Such conditions include the employment of pharmacist to supervise the dispensing of ethical products, improvement in the storage conditions, and compliance with the approved drug lists for patent medicine vendors, etc.
A press release signed by the PCN’s Deputy Director, Enforcement, Mr. Stephen Esumobi, noted, “The staff members at the PCN’s zonal office have been assisting owners of affected premises to ensure that they meet minimum standards required to operate medicine stores.”
It lamented that, in spite of efforts by the PCN to encourage stakeholders to meet the standards required to operate patent medicine shops, some owners of pharmacy premises had broken the PCN seals and continued with the illegal sale of medicines, mostly within and around Benin, Kano, Warri and Calabar streets in Kaduna metropolis.
“These premises are not registered with the PCN and the storage conditions within the premises are deplorable.
“The operators of these premises lack the requisite knowledge to handle the products in their shops; as a result, many of these drugs are exposed to environmental factors that alter their pharmacological and the pharmacokinetic profiles.
“This makes the drugs unsuitable for human consumption,” the release stated.
It notes further that, “Unfortunately, these products are freely sold to unsuspecting members of the public, thereby endangering their health.”
Continuing, it said, “The PCN enforcement team in a joint exercise with the men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps visited those premises on Monday, October 9 and Tuesday October 10, 2017.
“The team arrested 20 notorious illegal medicine dealers. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”
