The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has stated that the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria is bucking the trend with audacious billion-dollar investments in domestic manufacturing and would not tolerate any attempt to weaken its professional standards through foolish regulatory mergers.
National Chairman, Pharm. Ambrose Ezeh, MAW, DCPharm, and National Secretary, Omokhafe Ashore, FPSN, spoke ahead of the ACPN’s 44th Annual National Conference, which will take place in Awka, Anambra State, from July 22–27. They praised Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers for expanding their local production capacity in spite of persistent threats like counterfeit drugs and regulatory bottlenecks.
At a pre-conference briefing, Ezeh stated, “Our pharmaceutical industry is on a growth trajectory despite challenges, thanks to visionary investors building Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) plants and modern factories.” “Enterprises such as Fidson Healthcare, Emzor, Codix Healthcare, and Jawa Pharm are transforming the market landscape, propelling us to a $10 billion market size in five years while improving drug security for our citizens.”
According to him, if the government consciously supports the pharmaceutical business, it can anchor health security and create jobs. This is demonstrated by the local capacity expansion from anti-retroviral medications to medical consumables.
In order to comply with WHO Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, we anticipate that the government will support these investments by making equipment, raw materials, and an enabling environment more easily accessible. That’s how we boost GDP growth and reap the benefits of Africa’s free trade area,” Ezeh emphasized.
Before enacting disruptive policies like MEDIPOOL, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) should involve key pharmacy practice stakeholders, the ACPN Chairman cautioned, cautioning against piecemeal policy moves.
Robust stakeholder involvement, not top-down directives that disregard practical realities, is the foundation of a sound national drug policy. We insist that the National Drug Distribution Guidelines be thoroughly enforced and that the Fake Drug Act be reinforced with harsher penalties,” he stated.
Ezeh stated unequivocally that the ACPN and the whole pharmacy profession oppose any effort to combine the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) with other health regulatory organizations under the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Authority (NHFRA) Bill that is presently before the National Assembly.
The practice of pharmacy is governed as a separate profession on a global scale. South Africa, Ghana, Canada, and Britain all have independent pharmacy councils to protect standards,” said Omokhafe Ashore, secretary of the ACPN.
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He clarified that a cumbersome merger that would weaken standards and make it more difficult to combat counterfeit and subpar medications would damage the PCN’s maturity, national organization, and WHO recognition in addition to NAFDAC’s standing as a premier national regulator.
“Combining us with unrelated health regulators would only result in resource waste, bureaucratic confusion, and a decline in professional standards.” To ensure Nigerians have access to safe medications, the PCN must continue to be independent and dedicated, according to Ashore.
In response to media disputes with medical associations, the leadership of the ACPN charged that certain factions within the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) were impeding reforms aimed at modernizing pharmacy practice, such as the PharmD recognition and consultant cadre for pharmacists.
Even while doctors receive government-funded residencies and pharmacists spend millions for specialized training, these physician groups have continuously prevented pharmacists from advancing fairly. Ezeh demanded that the government put an end to this injustice immediately.
To ease residual tensions and guarantee equitable representation in leadership positions within Federal Health Institutions (FHIs), he asked President Bola Tinubu to actively engage non-physician health workers, who make up more than 80% of the health workforce.
The ACPN and its affiliated unions under JOHESU will have no choice but to fight using all legal means if the federal government continues to ignore these abuses. Resistance becomes a duty when injustice is made a law, he said.
