National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Alimi Michael
The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has shut down 571 pharmacies and medicine shops in Bauchi State for selling counterfeit, expired, and illicit drugs.
This action spanned 10 local government areas, as revealed by Pharm. Stephen Esumobi, PCN Director of Enforcement, during a press briefing in Bauchi.
He expressed concern over the alarming rate of hard substance sales in the state and noted that the Council plans to collaborate with other agencies to dismantle the distribution network.
The council conducted inspections in Bauchi, Tafawa Balewa, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Alkaleri, Dambam, Kirfi, Ningi, Toro, and Dass local government areas.
Esumobi said, “At the end of the exercise, a total of 762 premises were visited. This is made up of 88 pharmacies, 284 patent medicine shops, and 390 illegal premises.
“These 37 pharmacies, 144 patent medicine shops, and 390 illegal outlets were found in violation of regulatory standards and were subsequently sealed.”
Illegal medicine dealers were also found to engage in the sale of large quantities of substances of abuse to members of the public, especially within the state capital, thus aggravating the social and security challenges emanating from the illicit use of these medicines.
“Also, some patent medicine stores within Bauchi metropolis were found to be stocking large quantities of used needles and syringes, which are suspected to be reused or sold to other medicine dealers operating in the rural areas,” he added.
In 2022, the PCN enforcement team visited the state and sealed several medicine outlets for violating laws and regulations, according to Esumobi.
He mentioned that the council implemented measures to address the issues identified at those locations.
“The PCN staff met with owners of such premises, and most of them gave assurance that they would comply with our laws and regulations.
The PCN, through our state and zonal offices in Bauchi, took steps to guide owners of medicine shops on steps they needed to take to operate in line with the laws.
However, in spite of this, the current enforcement exercise showed that many of these premises did not take steps to improve their storage facilities,” he added.
Esumobi revealed that additional violations by pharmaceutical premises owners included operating without registration, failing to renew premises certificates, and maintaining poor documentation.
Other breaches involved patent medicine vendors stocking medicines beyond the approved list and performing clinical services, wholesalers engaging in retail activities, and pharmacies operating without a superintendent pharmacist.
