Pharmacists must prepare to store, administer vaccines in Nigeria —PCN registrar

REGISTRAR, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Ibrahim Ahmed, has asked Nigerian pharmacists to seek and acquire necessary skills and certification, in preparation for Federal Government’s approval to store and administer vaccines.

Ahmed, while giving the charge at the oath taking and induction of 58 new pharmacists from the 2021/2022 Pharmacy graduates at the University of Ibadan, said already, in the United States, pharmacists are actually involved in vaccine storage and administration and they should be positioned to be able to do it once the government approves it.

Represented by the South West Director of PCN, Dr Yejide Oseni, Ahmed said pharmacists are also expected to be at the frontline offering professional advice and interventions on drugs, whilst working with other healthcare professionals at all times, especially during public health emergencies like COVID-19 and diphtheria outbreak.

According to him, “every little contribution you make in your various practice areas will definitely impact in combating such emergencies. The need for Nigerian pharmacists to be involved in vaccine storage and administration cannot be overemphasised.

“I also encourage you to explore the research aspect of pharmacy practice as this area has become a focal point, bearing in mind the need to develop effective drugs and vaccines for COVID-19.”

Ahmed said the PCN frowns on professional misconduct in its entirety and asked the new inductees to get acquainted with the code of ethics of the profession.

Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Professor Kunle Idowu, said the spate of retirements, without strategic replacements, portends danger for the training of pharmacists, as he called for intervention through an effective recruitment process and attractive reward and incentives for academics in the university system.

He added, “If we must have well-trained pharmacists, the type we produce at Ibadan, we must dump the saying that ‘the end justifies the means’ and firmly embrace the inversion of that, which says ‘the means justify the end’.”

Chief Executive Officer, ABIROT Limited and keynote speaker at the event, Mr Ibukun Oyelohunnu, stressed that the pharmacy inductees have a focus and purpose in life even as they make up their minds to be the best in their field of endeavour and be disciplined.