The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called on the Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire to order the closure of all Open Drug Markets in Nigeria, saying that to do otherwise is to continue to play kites with the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
The association also called on the Ministry of Health to call the National Health Insurance Scheme to order on the misinterpretation of her guideline and the misdirection of her payment mechanism that has kept the coverage of health insurance in Nigeria at an abysmal low level and one which keep undermining the well-being of people living with diabetes.
This call comes on the heels of commemoration of World Diabetes Day 2021. November 14 each year is the international day set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the commemoration of World Diabetes Day. The theme for this year through 2023 is, Access to Diabetes Care: If not now, when?
“Community Pharmacists are accessible to the people and their knowledge, skill and setups are suitable for diabetes education. ACPN has therefore commissioned a countrywide Community Pharmacy-Based Diabetes Education Program, which is a 12-month, individualized care program based on Standardised Diabetes Self-Management Education Programmes.
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“This collaborative study will enroll over 1,000 Diabetic Patients Nationwide and it will be characterized by baseline clinical and pharmacotherapy assessments/assessment of baseline diabetes knowledge of these patients, Community Pharmacists interventions {Diabetes Education/Pharmaceutical care} at scheduled visits, and the results of changes in clinical values and quality of lives of the patients at the end of the study”, ACPN said.
“This theme is succinct and appeals to the healthcare situation, and indeed diabetes care in our country, NIGERIA, more than most countries of the world.5.8percent (about 6 million) of adult Nigerians are said to be diabetic. This figure has been likened to the tip of the iceberg as it is estimated that two-third of the diabetes cases in Nigeria remain undiagnosed”, ACPN said.
“Nearly 100 years after the discovery of insulin and other diabetes control medications, these drugs remain largely unavailable and unaffordable for the majority of Nigerians. The complete confusion and disorderliness in the drug distribution system in Nigeria have worsened the quality of most valuable pharmaceutical products designed to alleviate the suffering of diabetic patients and have made it very difficult for these patients to get to treatment goals.
“Many of the anti-diabetics are temperature-sensitive and the lack of effort by the Federal Ministry of Health in ensuring that Medicines are not sold in the open markets means many of these medications may have lost a substantial part of their potency before reaching the final users. This situation is dangerous and should not be allowed to continue.
“Simply put, the situation of diabetes care in Nigeria is very sub-optimal: inequality and lack of access to diabetes care, high cost of medicines, lack of quality assurance checks for service providers in the healthcare system, and disorderly drug distribution system with its siamese twin of a pool of poor medicines”, ACPN further stated.
