Stop Mass Exodus of Pharmacists Now, PSN Tasks FGP

Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has tasked the federal government to stem the tide of mass exodus of pharmacists for greener pastures overseas.

President of PSN, Prof. Cyril Odianose Usifoh, lamented the rate of migration of Nigerian pharmacists to other countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

He disclosed that over 5,208 pharmacists left the country in the last five years.

According to him, like their counterparts in other health fields, the development impacts negatively on healthcare delivery in the country. Describing the statistics as worrisome, Prof. Usifoh, said with a ratio of one pharmacist to 14,000 Nigerians, the brain drain would “worsens our health system’s fragility and jeopardises the ability of the national and sub-national entities to meet the health needs of the population.”

He said, “There is an unprecedented movement of pharmacists away from Nigeria. At the last count, about 5,208 pharmacists have left the country in the last five years in search of the proverbial green pastures especially in Canada, UK and the United States, just like their counterparts in other health fields and indeed many young Nigerians.”

Usifoh confirmed that at the last count, over 803 pharmacists collected letters of good standing from the Council in 2021.

“The WHO recommended ratio of healthcare workers to the population is 23 to 1000 while in Nigeria; it is an abysmal 1.95 to 1000.

This is for the entire health workforce. When expressed in terms of the pharmacists component, there are 0.07 pharmacists to 1000 or 1 pharmacist to over 14,000 Nigerians. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the acceptable and recommended ratio of Pharmacists to the population is one Pharmacist to 2000 of the population.”

He called on the government to urgently stem the tide through a review and reconfiguration of the health services health architecture, saying, “the onus lies on the government to reconfigure the health architecture in the country in a bid to keep hold of the manpower we are losing in droves.”

Usifoh identified infrastructural deficit and pitiable working conditions of many healthcare workers due to inadequate funding of the sector as major factors responsible for the migration of pharmacists overseas.

He said, “Poor healthcare funding with the gap standing at close to USD 200 billion. This is responsible for the infrastructural deficit and pitiable working conditions of many healthcare workers.”

He also cited distribution of health workforce with more patronage of tertiary compared to primary health institutions, causing personnel at the tertiary institutions to be overworked as another reason.

“Over 60 per cent of their clientele is composed of people with minor issues the primary level could have solved. Consequently, those who actually need tertiary care are delayed with many dying or suffering irreversible damage before it gets to their turn to access care,” he stated.

Usifoh noted the depletion of the workforce in the department of pharmaceutical services in the country’s various institutions due to retirement and brain drain, and advised the government to replace the pharmacists without delay.

He expressed sadness over the stagnation of pharmacists in the public sector who are not allowed to reach level 17 at the peak of their career. This, he posited, has led to low morale. He requested the promotion of pharmacists to level 17 as it is being done to other professionals in the public service across board.

“New scheme of service for pharmacists: The current scheme of service for pharmacists came into existence in 2005 and is long overdue for review. We hereby request for the immediate review of the scheme of service for pharmacists. This new scheme of service is expected to incorporate the enhanced entry point and enhanced call duty allowance for Pharm. D holders and the approved Consultancy Cadre for Pharmacists.”

Usifoh, who also decried the discriminatory salary scale pharmacists in the public service are placed against their medical counterparts, called for an upwards review of the scales.

“The salary structure of the pharmacists have remained the same for over a decade while that of their medical counterparts have been reviewed upwards twice in rapid succession. We request for the upward review of the salary structure for pharmacists (CONHESS) to reflect the current realities as adjusted for CONMESS. This should be done as the plans are on to review all health workers’ salaries in the nation.”

He said, the  95th Annual National Scientific Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria with the theme : ‘Medicine Security In An Unstable Economy’’, which will hold in Jos from the 31st of October to the 4th of November 2022 will engender robust discourse for the development of the pharmaceutical sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

According to him, the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), will be the Chairman of the Opening Ceremony. Other distinguished Nigerians expected to grace the event include Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd) and Governor of Plateau State, Dr. Simon Bako Lalong.