The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has condemned what it described as continuous political outbursts directed at the profession by the president of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Uche Ojinmah.
In a statement co-signed and made available to BusinessDay by the Chairman of the ACPN, Adewale Oladigbolu and the national secretary Ambrose Ezeh, the association claimed that Ojinmah in a recent published interview with a national newspaper gave an unpleasant description of the association and its members.
The statement reads in part: “In the interview, Ojinmah was quoted as saying that ‘some people even say they are Community Pharmacists and so they must prescribe.’
“Ojinmah also gave the impression that everything all other health workers do, physicians were trained in such endeavours boasting, he studied pharmacology ‘which is an aspect of Pharmacy.
“Pharmacology is only one of eight core areas in pharmacy training which includes pharmacognosy, pharmacology, pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical microbiology, pharmaceuticals and pharm tech, forensic pharmacy, clinical pharmacy and bio pharmacy.
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“Even if we assume that Physicians cover the entire blade in terms of scope and depth of pharmacology, pharmacists are exposed to in-training, what ever happened to knowledge in the other seven areas?
“As pharmacists, we were taught anatomy and physiology but maturity and intellectual contentment compels us to acknowledge we remain proud and fulfilled pharmacists.
“We at ACPN have critically reviewed these declarations and we like to posit as reflected:
“The attempts to ridicule community pharmacists by Ojinmah confirm our age-long predilection to brand a preponderance of Nigerian physicians as perpetually celebrating their arrogance of ignorance.”
The group further stated that ‘’It is most unfortunate that the supposed leader of the medical profession in Nigeria is not familiar with the nomenclature and concept of Community Pharmacy practice which is a globally recognised reality.”
Describing community pharmacists as the unsung heroes in the Nigerian health space, the release stated that the practitioners save Nigeria from more significant morbidity and mortality rates through their services and interventions.
According to the association in the release, over 65 percent of clinical visitations traceable to malaria in Nigeria are effectively treated to the extent that almost 90 percent in Community Pharmacies are in Nigeria.
ACPN recalled that during the peak levels of Covid-19 pandemic, it was Community Pharmacies that provided affordable management costs through wellness protocols of dispensing routine vitamins and other remedies including appropriate diet at costs well below N2,000 to Nigerians when according to them, private hospitals charged between N5m and N50m to manage patients in their hospitals.
The release also recalled that during the pandemic, community pharmacists were not provided with PPEs and had to pay for it themselves to save their lives and that of their families, adding: “It is a sad commentary that no government official in Nigeria at state or federal level has found it worthwhile to convey appreciation of the patriotic gestures of these community pharmacists till now.’’
The association therefore, opined that the conundrum in the health system would continue to defy solutions for as long as stakeholders including government, consumers of health and other stakeholders in the value-chain are not bold enough to curtail what they described as many excesses of Ojinmah and his medical constituency.
Suggesting the way forward for the physicians and indeed health workers who desire to lead in healthcare settings, ACPN in the release stressed the need for them to run post-graduate programmes in management or administration to meet set eligibility criteria.
