Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN is the umbrella body for pharmacists in Nigeria. Pharmacists are health professionals who specialize in safe and effective use of medicines. Pharmacists are custodians of medicines without whom the health care delivery system is not complete. They are trained to be able to deliver quality service as far as health interventions are concerned.
Pharmacist produce medicines, they give directives on safe use of medicines. Oyo state chapter of the Society led by Pharmacist Abiodun Ajibade have been busy engaging stakeholders and the public on various issues ranging from who a pharmacist is; drug abuse; the place of pharmacists in the health care delivery system and so on.
Speaking with CEOAfrica, he said “when you say you are a pharmacist, you know you are custodians of medications both for animals and human, but when we now have people trying to begin to operate in an area that they are not familiar with or have proficiency, automatically, you will see a lot of arguments which often times are as a result of selfish motives to detriment of health benefits of ordinary and common people in Nigeria”
Pharm. Abiodun Ajibade also added that “pharmacists are people that have been trained in terms of toxicology of drugs; I mean drug safety, drug availability, production, drug interaction, everything name it about drugs, it is therefore an exercise in futility for a non-pharmacist to be claiming right in handling drugs both in man and animal”.
In clearing some doubts if pharmacists are qualified to handle animal drugs, he said “most of these drugs that we see today, before there are consumed by humans, have been first tested in animal and in fact it is the results obtained in animals that are escalated to become treatment in human beings” therefore, if pharmacists developed the drug, have the in-depth knowledge of their properties and able to determine acceptable dosage in human using the animal models, you wonder, what’s then the argument about pharmacist not qualify to operate Veterinary pharmacy”.
The PSN have been very vocal on the safe use of medicines, knowing fully well the dangers abuse can possibly cause. The Oyo state chapter of the Society, led by Pharmacist Abiodun Ajibade have been aggressive in addressing the issue of drug abuse. Recently, it managed to elicit discuss on the drug abuse menace with a view of finding a way around it.
Ajibade has also been an advocate for projecting the society and its members in a more glorious light at every given opportunity. He is indeed a voice for the PSN. At the occasion marking this year's world pharmacy day he said, "No health care is complete without medicines and that means pharmacists are the most important people when it comes to health care delivery."
He is indeed a leader with a passion to see the society take its enviable place in the grand scheme of things and would not hesitate to stick out his neck for the greater good of the PSN.
