The Zamfara state government has inaugurated two drugs regulatory committees established by the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) as part of its efforts to ensure effective drugs regulation in the state.
The Committees were Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee and Proprietary Petients Medicine Vendors Licencing Committee.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committees were inaugurated by the state governor, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari in Gusau on Wednesday.
Yari, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Health, Dr Habibu Yelwa, commended the PCN for the establishment of the committees and promised to support the activities of the council in order to ensure effective drugs regulations in the state.
Yari promised that the state government was ever ready to partner with the PCN and all stakeholders to improve drugs management in the state.
In his remark, the Director in charge of North-West office of the council, Alhaji Abubakar Dattijo said the establishment of the committees entailed setting standards in all areas of Pharmacy practice at hospitals, manufacturing, distribution, wholesale and retail.
Dattijo also said that the committees would also ensure effective drugs regulations at patients and proprietary medicine vendor shops and improvement of set standards inline with best global practices.
According to him, the council has the responsibility of regulating, training and practice of pharmacy in all aspects and ramifications.
“Inline with the councils’ policies to actualize our mandate we are establishing the two committees in each of the states across the country,” he said.
The Director Pharmaceutical Services of the state ministry of health, Alhaji Isah Muhammad, was appointed as the chairman of the two committees.
The Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee has five members while the Patients and Proprietary Medicine Vendors Licensing Committee has eight members comprising representatives of the state ministry of health and its parastatals and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.
Other members of the committees were representatives from National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Drugs Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Civil Society Organisations among others.
The event was organised by the state Chapter of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) as part of its activities to mark the 2018 annual Pharmacy week. (NAN)