A’Ibom pharmacists seek eradication of drug smuggling, counterfeiting 

The Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the Association of Community Pharmacists has called on the State Governor, Umo Eno, to re-activate and fund the state Counterfeit and Fake Drug Monitoring Committee as a public health emergency to tackle issues of counterfeiting and smuggling of drugs in the state.

This was part of the resolutions contained in a communique issued at the end of the 3rd Annual Scientific Conference of the Association with the theme, “Medicine Security in an Unstable Economy: The Role of Community Pharmacists”

The communique which was signed by the Association’s chairman, Tony Anderson, and made available to our correspondent on Monday, raised concern over the high rate of drug counterfeiting especially in a depressed economy and stressed the need for monitoring to ensure medicine security.

The communique partly reads, “The conference observed that at a misery index of 85%, the Nigerian economy is depressed and this may lead to an increase in drug smuggling and counterfeiting.

“Against this backdrop, the authentication of medicines, traceability, tamper-proof packaging, quality control, secure transportation, storage and monitoring is essential to ensure medicine security.

“Conference therefore called on the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno to consider the re-activation and funding of the Akwa Ibom State Counterfeit and Fake Drug Monitoring Committee as a public health emergency.”

The conference similarly condemned the hike in the cost of medications in Nigeria which it noted was occasioned by what they described as a “depressed economy” and rising cost of energy.

It also frowned at the heavy reliance on imports of medications and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients from China and India, despite the nation’s local capacity to produce, noting that the rising cost of energy and the volatile economy of Nigeria had led to the withdrawal of some multinational pharmaceutical companies from Nigeria, such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), collapse of local manufacturers, such as Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Company in Onna, in Akwa Ibom State.

While commending Eno for financing the healthcare system for the poor, the association called for the strengthening of the Akwa Ibom State Health Insurance Agency.

“There is a need for the inclusion of a Pharmacist in the Akwa Ibom State Health Insurance Agency Board given the pivotal role of pharmaceutical services in healthcare, proven expertise of pharmacists in Health economics/Pharmacoeconomics and a groundswell of research that identifies the cost of medications as a significant component of catastrophic health expenditure,” the body said.

The conference also “Called on the Akwa Ibom State government, in line with her Arise Agenda, to support the ongoing public health awareness campaign of the Association, aimed at raising the health consciousness of Akwa Ibom residents by discussing vital health topics weekly across various electronic media.”