Federal Government has reiterated that Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) remains the only parastatal charged with the responsibility of regulating pharmacy regulation, training, and practice across the country.
The Deputy Director, Food and Drug Services Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Pharm Beauty Okologo, stated this in a statement while reacting to claims in a national daily (not Blueprint) that the Federal Government has segmented the Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) into three tiers.
According to the statement made available to Blueprint on Sunday in Kaduna, the Deputy Director refuted the claim in its entirety, noting that no such tiering has been done.
“The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) is the Federal Government parastatal charged with the responsibility of regulating pharmacy regulation, training, and practice in all aspects and ramifications.
“Contrary to the assertion that the Federal Government has tiered the PPMVs into three tiers, none of such tiering has been done. The tiered classification model is a study which the Council is piloting in two states of the country, exploring means to further strengthen its regulatory capacity within the confines of the law and also ensure that citizens of the country have access to medicines.
“I said at the 2nd Stakeholders’ meeting for the review of the Pharmacists Council Approved Patent Medicines List (APML) for the proposed 3-tiered classification of PPMVs workshop in Abuja, that the proposed draft 7th edition of the Essential Medicines List (EML) which also contains the APML among other statutory lists is yet to be signed by the Honourable Minister of Health.
“No date has been fixed for the launching of the said policy documents as approvals need to be sought. The impression being projected in media that the 7th edition of NEML and NEMLc have been approved and are to be launched in September 2019, is erroneous and should be disregarded as the documents in question are still being ventilated by all relevant stakeholders.
“Until evidence is generated from the pilot, relevant stakeholders adequately engaged, and the Federal Government approves the model and signs it into law, any other stand remains premature,” the statement said.
