By Gabriel Olawale

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN Lagos State chapter has implored the Federal government and all its relevant agencies to fast track plans that will lead to actualization of the revised National Drugs Distribution Guidelines, NDDG.

MEETING: From right: Vice Chairman, ACPN, Lagos Chapter, Obideyi Olabanji; Chairman, Mrs. Abiola Paul-ozieh; Secretary, Lawrence Ekhaton; Assist. Sec., Pharm. Moyosade Ademola at the 2016 AGM held in Lagos recently.

Speaking during their Annual General Meeting, the Chairman, Pharm. Biola Paul-Ozieh said the postponement of NDDG implementation has denied drugs sector in the country of any tangible development.

“Our regulatory authority has not done much, the environment still remains unconducive because of open drug markets.

“Last year when NDDG was to take effect from July 2015 with implementation and sanction, it was later postponed and we have been persuaded that it has potential of sanitizing the chaotic drugs circulation in the country.”

Paul-ozieh however called on the Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control to work towards the actualization of the revised guideline with timelines.

Raising alarm over the menace of drug misuse and abuse in the country, Paul-ozieh said that many youths now regularly misuse Cough mixture with Codeine as well as the analgesic, Tramadol.

She however called on government to accelerate actions on the closing down of open drug markets scattered all over the nation, “unrestricted access to medicines contribute in no small measure to the escalating misuse and abuse of drugs in our society. If there is any benefit from cheapness of some of these drugs being hawks around, in the end it lead to number various disease and treatment failure.”