Tunde Ajaja
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has expressed delight over the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the country after 104 days of medical vacation to the United Kingdom.
The PSN said the President’s return was a testimony of the good care he received while he was there, coupled with his self-imposed determination to shake off all vagaries of ill health. It, however, added that the need for him to seek medical intervention outside the country had brought to the fore the compelling need to appraise the totality of the nation’s health system.
In a statement on Friday, signed by the PSN President, Ahmed Yakasai, and the National Secretary, Gbologade Iyiola, the society said appointments in some of the regulatory agencies and some other strategic organs in the health sector remained a vital issue that should be addressed swiftly, in line with the progressive strides being recorded in other sectors of the economy.
The statement partly read, “The pharmaceutical sector is particularly hard hit without an array of salient appointments at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
“It is also apt to add that in terms of the regulatory processes in a core regulatory agency like NAFDAC, only a pharmacist has a jurisdiction as a regulatory officer in all the core mandate areas of pharmacy, food, and drugs.
“In a similar spirit, we find it necessary to request for the constitution of the governing councils of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development and the boards of federal health institutions to boost efficiency and entrench competency in the health sector.”
While wishing the President a fruitful and productive tenure, the PSN said it remained an “indisputable ally of the Federal Government in meeting its goals and objectives of good health to the citizenry.
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