Ikpeazu opens PSN conference, canvasses Made-in-Nigeria drugs

Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has declared open the 90th Annual National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) tagged Abia 2017, holding at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.

Speaking at the event, Ikpeazu called on the members of the PSN to ensure Nigeria could produce its own locally made drugs, stressing, “if we are unable to produce the drugs that we take every day it means we can be vulnerable if not for nothing to those countries from where we buy these drugs.”

The Governor expressed worry about the inability of Nigeria to validate folk medicines and urged them to develop the processes of validating them.

Speaking, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole, said the Federal government had put machinery in place to encourage local production of medicine, as medicines were pivotal to the health care delivery in Nigeria.

Also speaking, Mrs Pauline Tallen who representated the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, said the fight against drug abuse was a fight for all and applauded the society in their fight against fake drugs in the distribution chain.

The President of the PSN, Ahmed Yakassai assured that the Society would continue to work harder to improve health care in Nigeria. He said any country depending wholly on imported medicines risked vulnerability to all sorts of drugs.

He appealed to the National Assembly to pass the Pharmaceutical Act as it would improve the lots of its members.

Welcoming the guests, the Chairman, Abia State Council of the PSN, Mrs Ifeoma Kalu thanked Governor Ikpeazu for throwing his doors open for the members of the Society to host their conference.