By Henry Uche
Perennial rancour, power tussle and perceived marginalisation in the health sector is giving the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) worry among others stakeholders.
Among the myriads of issues troubling PSN (Lagos State branch in particular) is but not limited to: the supposed award of “Consultant status” for pharmacist in Lagos state.
Speaking during the 2022 Scientific week in Lagos, the Chairman, PSN Lagos State branch, PHARM. Gbolagade Iyiola, decried the efforts of some persons and corporates who are bent at frustrating the move grant its members consultancy status.
Other issues in the pharma space, deliberated during the week were: establishment of faculty of lharmacy in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria Act 2022.
Concerning the circular on consultant status for pharmacist in Lagos State Government, the journey to attaining consultant cadre for pharmacists has been tortuous in Nigeria. Approved first by National Council of Establishment (NCE) in 2011, it took another 10 years of rigmarole to finally seal the gains within the limits of due process because (the physicians) which imagines progress is exclusive to them rank did everything possible to truncate this laudable goal.
“In 2018, the Ambode administration approved of the consultant cadre to pharmacists after some negotiations at the heat of the JOHESU/AHPA strike of that season. The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the Jide Idris led Ministry of Health in Lagos truncated the approval because the erstwhile Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole informed the Lagos state government that the federal government had not approved consultant cadre at federal level.
“We at PSN took it with physiological calmness and returned to the trenches to perfect the novel idea of having consultancy in hospital pharmacy practice. All the appropriate documentations to perfect consultancy status for pharmacists were approved by August 2018 by the National Income Salaries and Wages Commission (NISWC), Federal Ministry of Health and the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSG).
“Today, the office of the Head of Civil Service of the federation is documenting the scheme of service of various cadres in the civil service. For the profession of pharmacy, expectedly, the new entry point will be based on a six year training programme for PharmD holders and terminal stages grounded in the implementation of consultant status which is already activated in some of the Federal Health Institutions.”
Iyiola affirmed that PSN (Lagos branch) in alignment with NUAHP (Lagos) had liaised with JOHESU at national level to get the Lagos government to do the needful, the efforts he said culminated in a PSN, AMLSN, NUAHP and Lagos state government negotiation in February 2022.
This the development he confirmed was amplfied with a JOHESU/AHPA leadership communication via a memo on the March 14, 2022 to governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led government. In its memo to the governor in March 2022, JOHESU identified with developmental strides in the area of infrastructures in Lagos state and commended some of the pace-setting health plans of the Lagos state government.
It drew attention to the trade dispute between Lagos government and NUAHP (Lagos) and advised the governor to redress the clamours of pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists whose professional matters of interest were on the table.
He noted that, the Lagos government has not acknowledged let alone redress the fundamental distortions in that memo submitted over six months ago, unfortunately. “The JOHESU/AHPA” has again sent a reminder to the Lagos government while the PSN (Lagos Branch) has also recently inundated governor Sanwo-Olu of some pharmaceutical matters in the last few days.
“The PSN reiterates the age-long belief that parties shy away from crisis when respect is mutual in conflict situations. At the parley with the Lagos government where a past president of PSN featured, they pointedly submitted that the militating bane in negotiations with government at federal and state levels remains the inclination to send government team dominated by physicians to dialogue with non-physicians cadre health workers.
“The experience has always been an outright sabotage of concept notes in evolutionary modernity for skill acquisition by physicians. For the Nigerian physicians, he must continue on a path of developmental growth while all others must be stagnated.
“PSN shall give the governor of Lagos State a timeline not exceeding a few weeks to redress this matter after which we shall seek full intervention of relevant unions and professional groups. The possibility of occupying Lagos and its government House like our partners successfully did in the past in Imo, Abia, Enugu, Rivers and some other states cannot be ruled out if this happens. I do hope credible leaders in Lagos state will advise Governor Sano-Olu before the sun sets on this matter.”
“On establishment of faculty of Pharmacy in Lagos State University, PSN (Lagos Branch) commended the state government for finally giving a nod to the establishment of a faculty of pharmacy at the Lagos State University, saying that the training school deserves to become the benchmark in national discourses as it strongly clamour that its focus must be degrees in PharmD which will become the minimal registrable degree by the pharmacy council of Nigeria in a few years.
“We urged Lagos State Government to appoint credible and very experienced scholars in pharmacy practice to give good quality leadership in the new schools. This ordinarily should not pose a challenge in Lagos and the southwest geo-political zone where we have an array of seasoned academic pharmacists who are world class teachers and consultants to World Health Organization (WHO), UNIDO and other world bodies.
“Our clarion call to the Lagos government will be incomplete if we do not also inform that the faculty of pharmacy at Lagos State University must enjoy a fully autonomous status. A quick check around the nation will confirm that all our recognized 20 faculties are autonomous and not aligned or subsumed in marriages of inconveniences with any other structure of a calling in the health profession.
“In more contemporary times, our new schools of Pharmacy enjoy collegiate statutes, while the heads are designated Provosts. Let every complications normalise so that it can enjoy take-off.
Similarly, PSN saluted president Buhari and the National Assembly for actualising the pharmacy council of Nigeria Bill after eight years it was started, which has today become a pharmacy council of Nigeria Act 2022.
“The pharmacy council of Nigeria Act 2022 is the needed tool to enhance monitoring and control of pharmaceutical premises, expand services through satellite pharmacies, entrench pharmacy based human resource in healthcare, revolutionalise industrial pharmacy and restore dignity to community pharmacy. These expectations will come true if we continue to support our leadership at all levels,” he assured.