By Uche Amunike
The Ogun State chapter of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), will dedicate the World Pharmacists Day 2023, which comes up every 25th September, to free medical outreaches in some areas across the state capital.
According to a statement issued concerning the celebration of 2023 Word Pharmacists Day, 2023, the chapter chairman of the PSN, Adewale Adenugba, disclosed Sunday, that they would also visit correctional homes and orphanages in order to ensure that the beneficiaries of the free medical addresses would receive physical health investigation, free medication and health education, just as some schools have also been selected for receiving talks on the ills of drug abuse as well as media engagement for continuous education of the society.
While explaining the theme of this year’s World Pharmacists Day, which is, ‘Pharmacy: Strengthening the Health System’, Adenugba explained thus: ‘In our country Nigeria, pharmacists remain the most accessible healthcare professionals in most communities, presenting available and affordable healthcare solutions to the populace and improving public health standards across the country.’
‘As the experts on medicines, more pharmacists could be allowed to prescribe and initiate medication. Pharmacists also have the skills to take on the management of patients with long-term conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and HIV.’
He further stated that the pharmacists in the community have displayed tremendous success in this regard. Hear him: ‘Nigeria needs to move in this direction as it has been proven in more advanced nations if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal SDG-3 of the United Nations on Access to Essential Health Services.’
‘Pharmacy practice in Nigerian hospital settings is going deeper with improved skills through specialisation as we now have well-trained and certified Consultant Pharmacists whose practice and cadre is backed by a Federal Government gazette that hopefully would be adopted by our dear state Ogun, in a short while.’
The World Pharmacists Day, according to him, was initiated by the International Pharmaceutical Federation, which was recognized in 2009, during a conference held in Istanbul, Turkey. He added that the reason for celebrating this event was to draw attention to the pharmacists and pharmacy, recognizing the role of pharmacists in improving global health and also to encourage and support actions that promote healthcare all over the world.
Hear him: ‘The purpose of this celebration is to draw attention to pharmacy and pharmacists, recognising the role of pharmacists in improving global health. It is also meant to encourage and support actions that promote healthcare worldwide.’
The Campaign for Word Pharmacists Day helps pharmacists to celebrate their achievements in supporting societies and also make its value and potentials in improving health, known to people. The theme explains that during the period when health systems around the world were recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, the general consensus was that urgent action needed for health services to meet needs, portrayed the importance of pharmacists, because it ultimately showed how much they are used as an intelligent solution in such cases.
