Association of
Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has destroyed expired drugs worth N452
million in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
Mr Sunday Ike, FCT Chairman of ACPN who spoke
on Thursday in Kuje, FCT, while destroying expired drugs, noted that members
incurred colossal losses as a result of the destruction.
He said that the drugs were willingly
submitted by members for destruction in compliance with professional ethics.
“Today is one of the saddest days in our lives
in the sense that we are destroying products that expired in pharmaceutical premises
within FCT; we have to do it because of the ethics of the profession.
“We are not allowed to throw expired products
away because drugs are poison. It is the requirement of the law that we gather
the products after being confirmed expired by NAFDAC and destroy them, rather
than disposing such products indiscriminately.
“These products are willingly submitted by our
members and this is not a good day for us because we are destroying our money,
the nation’s money worth N452 million without compensation from the
manufacturers of such drugs,” Ike said.
The chairman however attributed the large
number of expired drugs and other pharmaceutical consumables destroyed to
non-withdrawal of such products by manufacturers as obtainable in some
countries, as well as prescription policy of the government.
Ike said that companies should monitor their
products as well as produce the quantity that is actually needed in the
country.
The chairman also appealed to the Federal
Government to revisit the prescription policy whereby doctors would be made to
prescribe generic drugs rather than branded ones.
“There is need to revisit drug prescription
policy of the country, whereby doctors will be made to prescribe generics
instead of branded names, because once your prescription is branded, when you
give generics, people reject.
“Such rejection accumulates drugs, if we are
able to address drug distribution channels, prescription policy is revisited,
and prescription coming from hospitals is generic, we will have fewer
situations like this,” he said.
Mrs Chika Ukwa, Ethics Committee Chairman, PSN
FCT, who spoke to NAN said the destruction was to ensure that such expired
drugs were not reevaluated or get back into the system.
Mr Amos Aremu, Director, Pharmaceutical
Services, Federal Capital Territory (FCTA) commended ACPN for willingly
bringing out their expired drugs for destruction.
Represented by Mr Aje Oga, Deputy Director,
Pharmaceutical Services, Aremu said expired drugs was injurious to health, adding
that destroying such drugs would enhance the health of the citizens and
residents of the FCT.
NAN
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