Council seals 178 medicine stores in Rivers

The Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) said at the weekend that it sealed 178 patent medicine stores in Rivers State. The council also said an undisclosed number of persons were arrested during their enforcement exercise in the state.

The Director and Head of department in charge of inspection and monitoring at the council, Pharmacist Antonia Aruya, at a press briefing in Port Harcourt said they were in Rivers State to carry out an enforcement exercise. He added that the stores sealed were involved in offences ranging from dispensing of drugs without the supervision of a pharmacist, poor storage conditions, selling medicines above approved list for patent medicine vendors as well as non-registration of premises.

She said, “It was observed in Rivers State that so many premises commenced operation without following the laid down guidelines. Some are located in environments that are not conducive for sale of medicines while many others failed to meet minimum requirement for storage and personnel thus exposing members of the public to the dangers of consuming medicines whose quality, safety and efficacy cannot be guaranteed”.

“Another category of offenders are registered premises that failed to renew their premises certificates with the PCN as required by law. The annual renewal of premises certificate is mandatory and it is to ensure that registered premises and shops continue to maintain or improve on the standards that qualified them for licensure. One of the core mandates of the PCN is ensuring rational distribution and dispensing of medicines that are safe, effective and of good quality. Anyone wishing to key into the national drug distribution system by opening a pharmacy or patent medicine shop is required to apply for location approval before putting any structure or furnishing in place,” he said.