- Two hundred and eighty patents medicine stores in Zamfara state have been sealed off by the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria
- The stores were sealed off by the council for various unethical offences
- The reason some of them were sealed off was that they were found dispensing ethical products without the supervision of pharmacists
The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed off 280 patent medicine stores for various unethical offences in Zamfara state.
The council’s director in charge of inspection and monitoring, Anthonia Aruya, announced the closure at a news conference in Gusau on Saturday, June 2.
She said the measure became necessary to prevent people from taking poison unknowingly as prescribed drugs, NAN reports.
NAIJ.com notes that she said some medicine store operators were found dispensing ethical products without the supervision of pharmacists, while others operated under poor sanitary conditions.
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She also revealed that some operators were not registered by the council or failed to renew their registration making it difficult for the council to know what they were doing.
According to her, the council cannot guarantee drugs sold from unregistered outlets.
The director advised the general public to always look out for the council’s “x” signs before buying drugs at chemists, adding that her team would continue to carry out its assignments to ensure compliance with guidelines.
She said: “This will ensure safety, quality and efficacy of pharmaceutical products in the state."
The council visited a total of 365 premises comprising four pharmacies and 361 patent medicine shops across the 14 local government areas of the state during the exercise.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) was to step up inspection, monitoring and supportive supervision activities in all registered premises in the country to curb the challenges of drug abuse.
This was disclosed by the registrar of the council, Elijah Mohammed, who said that the measure was sequel to the directive by the minister of health to the council and other regulatory agencies to supervise the recall of codeine containing cough syrup nationwide.
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Source: Naija.ng