PCN seals off 577 pharmacies, patent medicine shops

The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed off 96 pharmacies and 481 patent medicine shops, totalling 577 medicine premises in Anambra for various offences.

The PCN’s Director, Inspection and Monitoring, Mrs Anthonia Aruya, made this known in Awka on Friday while addressing newsmen on the council’s efforts at sanitising the sector in the state.

Aruya said that a total of 779 medicine premises were visited.

According to her, the offences range from poor handling of controlled substances, sale and dispensing of prescription drugs without the supervision of a pharmacist as well as unhygienic environment and poor documentation.

“The enforcement was in fulfilment of its mandate as stated in PCN Act, Cap P17, LFN, 2004 and also in line with the National Drug Distribution Guide of the Federal Government.

“The activities are geared at streamlining the drug distribution value chain to promote safe, effective and quality medicine distribution along registered and licensed premises.

“Pharmacies that opened at will without recourse to the Council cannot be guaranteed to have standards that will maintain the integrity of the products within such facilities, ‘’ she said.

Aruya said that the council and other regulatory agencies were working to relocate all open drug markets to coordinated wholesale centres for proper regulation.

The director advised the public to always seek registration status of facilities where they access medicines to safeguard themselves from patronising quacks.