Engage in political activities to improve health sector, ACPN charges pharmacists

NATIONAL chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Mr Adewale Oladigbolu, has urged pharmacists to prioritise engagement in politics, particularly now, to improve Nigeria’s health index and ensure that more policies favour the health sector.

Mr Oladigbolu, who spoke at the investiture programme of Dotun Sanusi as the grand patron of ACPN, said the health sector needs more resources, adding that unless healthcare workers, particularly pharmacists, are in the political space, they would not be able to advocate for a better health sector.

The investiture was flagged off by a free medical outreach that benefitted 500 indigenes of the Ilaji community in Ona Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State, who assessed basic health services and medications, including mass deworming and screening for high blood pressure, malaria, hepatitis and HIV.

Mr Oladigbolu declared, “Pharmacists are passionate people; we are very much interested in what goes on in our community. Politicians may not necessarily understand as much as healthcare providers, so, the more pharmacists we have in political space, the more they are able to advocate for the health sector for the benefit of mankind.”

The ACPN chairman decried poor understanding of the role of pharmacists in the community, saying the pharmacy profession is not just to give drugs, but includes manufacturing, marketing and education on the use of drugs, dosage, possible drug-drug interactions to avoid, research into new drugs and medication counselling on common diseases in the community.

Earlier, the Oyo State branch chairman of ACPN, Mr Adebayo Gbadamosi, in his opening address, had said part of the free medical outreach was to ensure people in the community know their vital signs, such as blood pressure, a reason for heart failure and death when the pressure is persistently high.

Mr Gbadamosi stated that the selection of Chief Sanusi as the grand patron of the association was due to his investment in human development services and community development, which are similar to the aspirations of pharmacists.

He urged the Federal Government to stem the exodus of health professionals, particularly young pharmacists, from the country, saying it is getting challenging to have young pharmacists supervise community pharmacies in the country.

In his remarks, Chief Sanusi thanked the association for making him the grand patron and promised to use his personal network to advocate for pharmacists and ensure the profession is accorded its due place of recognition in the state.