By Chioma Obinna

Contrary to views of some stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector on the newly introduced National Drug Distribution Guidelines, NDDG, by the Federal Government, Community Pharmacists are backing the Federal Government drug guidelines, insisting that, the implementation of the guidelines would eliminate counterfeit medicines and restore sanity in the chaotic drug distribution chain.

The pharmacists under the auspices of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, Lagos State branch, also advised other stakeholders to embrace the full implementation of the guidelines as it would provide quality medicines to Nigerians.

Speaking during its Public Sensitisation and Awareness campaign on ‘Drug Use’ for motor park operators at the popular under bridge Ojuelegba, Lagos, to mark this year’s Pharmacy Week, the Lagos State Chairman of ACPN, Pharm. Biola Paul- Ozieh dismissed insinuations that the implementation would increase the cost of medicines.

According to her, the NDDG has come to stay and gray areas should be corrected by the Federal Ministry of Health that way Nigerians will be the beneficiaries. “Community Pharmacists are all for NDDG. It is not true that drugs will become very expensive. It is far from the true.   Drugs are not going to be expensive rather we are going to have coordinated drug distribution system.

“Other nations of the world have done this and it is working. Drugs being expensive is not due to the fact that when you do the right thing drugs will become expensive. When Drugs are taken or distributed through the right channels, what will happen is that the patient and the public will have access to quality medicines, quality care and quality drug channels.”

Eliminating open drug markets

She maintained that the NDDG will completely eliminate open drug markets and drugs will no longer be sold in the buses, open market places and in portfolios. “It only makes drugs to be in the hands of people trained or licensed to distribute drugs.”

Paul – Ozieh called on the regulatory authorities, to rise up to the challenge and dismantle open drug markets as well as ensure that the guidelines are implemented to the letter.

“Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, and the national Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control should be on the trail of unregistered premises and the federal taskforce under the auspices of NAFDAC is supposed to take down all illegal premises where fake and counterfeit drugs are distributed. These two regulatory bodies have the mandate to clear the country of illegal premises and make sure that drugs are only sold through registered premises.

We call upon them to have political will to protect the public by doing their jobs.”

“The NDDG is in tandem with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is why we are calling upon PCN to do an audit and NAFDAC to make the federal taskforce on fake and counterfeit drugs work.”

Speaking on misuse of drugs among Nigerians, Paul –Ozieh who noted that the enlightenment programme was part of their activities to bring information on drugs to Nigerians, raised alarm on the level of drug abuse in the country.

Declaring that the level of drug abuse was unacceptably high in the country, she said they now see more people abusing codeine and other drugs like tramadol.   She blamed the high incidence of non communicable diseases such as kidney problems on possible drug abuse by Nigerians.

“The incidences have proved irrational use of medicines and it is not good at all. That is why we are calling on the Federal Government to do the needful and we are calling on regulatory authorities, NAFDAC and PCN to begin to do the proper regulations. The laws have already said that open drug market is not acceptable in our clime. So the regulatory agency should stand up to their duties and sanitize the chaotic distribution channels.” She urged Nigerians to always patronise registered premises for their drugs  as well as consult their pharmacists on their drug needs.