Doris Obinna
In a bid to combat unwholesome use of medicines in the country, the Federal Government has announced the shut down of all open drug markets starting from January 1, 2019.
A statement by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) quoted the Minister of Health, Prof, Isaac Adewole, as saying, during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in Abia State, that the full implementation of the CWC component of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) would take off on January 1, 2019, as earlier scheduled.
The minister said one of the major challenges in the use of medicines in Nigeria was the unsatisfactory drug distribution system, which has led to poor product handling, difficulty in product tracking for statistical purpose and for recall, circulation of substandard products, difficulty in audit trail and destruction of professional practice.
Adewole, who visited Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, said the Federal Ministry of Health, in a bid to reverse this ugly trend, had, first in 2013, issued the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG).
On his part, Registrar, PCN, Elijah Mohammed, said CWC was a concept within the NDDG to cater for those who are in the open drug market.
According to him, it would help sanitise drug distribution in the country as open drug markets are the hub of major drug supply and drug problems in the country.
“The Federal Government, being a listening government and sensitive to the yearnings of Nigerians, provided the CWC as an alternative to those in the open drug market instead of just pushing them out,” he said.
Elijah said CWC would provide effective regulatory activities and ensure good pharmaceutical service delivery in the country, adding: “This will entail control over the efficacy of the drugs that are coming into Nigeria, and that are being made available for consumption for Nigerians.
“It is a purpose built infrastructure that will cater for a lot of things, like storage condition, practice environment, security and also in terms of regulatory activities. There are some drugs that need to be stored within a specific temperature, and the CWCs has such warehouses constructed for them, not like now in the open drug market where everything is lumped under the sun and in stores that have no windows and other things. Definitely the quality and efficacy of those drugs are maintained, that is the purpose.”
The registrar said the four major open drug markets in the country that are of concern to the Federal Government are, Idumota drug market, Lagos, Onitsha overhead bridge, Anambra State, Ariaria market, Aba, Abia state and Sabon Gari market, Kano State.