Pharmacists Plan Legal Action to Enforce National Social Health Insurance Act 2022

Sunday Ehigiator

Worried by the prevalence of inappropriate dispensing of drugs in the Social Health Insurance Scheme in the country, pharmacists under the aegis of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) are considering legal action to enforce the implementation of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act as amended and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Act 2022.

The decision was one of the high points of the communiqué of the 43rd Annual National Conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) held in Ibadan, Oyo State recently. The NHIA Act 2022 ensures that every Nigerian can access affordable and quality healthcare services including regulating, promoting, managing and integrating all health insurance schemes and practices in Nigeria.

ACPN, which expressed concern at the violation of the NHIA Act as amended and the PCN Act 2022 as it relates to the appropriate dispensing of drugs in social health insurance endeavours in Nigeria, claimed that over N1 trillion worth of drugs had been dispensed in the country since 2006 by persons who have not aligned with the necessary provisions of law. Consequently, it advised the National Executive Committee of the association to explore necessary legal action to compel the implementation of the provisions of the law establishing the NHIA.

‘’Conference reviewed recent developments at NHIA and called on the Chairman and NEC to immediately explore necessary legal action to compel the implementation of the NHIA Act as amended and the PCN Act 2022 as it relates to the appropriate dispensing of drugs in social health insurance endeavours in Nigeria bearing in mind that over N1 trillion worth of drugs have been dispensed since 2006 by persons who have not aligned with the necessary provisions of law.’’

It commended the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) for resuscitating the National Prescription Policy (NPP) which was brought to the front burners in 2013 by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) leadership.

The ACPN also “appreciated the trajectory of the NPP committee but stressed the need to appoint a Pharmaceutical Consultant who must be a Registered Pharmacist within the purview of the PCN Act and a Medical Consultant who must be a Registered Medical Doctor within the ambit of the MDCN Act.’’

It noted that there was a need for policy shifts in the pharmaceutical sector to boost innovations and collaborations in Community Pharmacy (CP) practice in the country for effective service delivery.

The body also sought more commitment by the federal government in efforts to overcome the many challenges inhibiting the harnessing of the potentials in the pharma-sector value chains, including lack of coordination of the sector and incidents of quacks and prevalent fake and counterfeit drugs.

“Conference declared that government must show more commitment to unlocking the Pharma-sector value chain by overcoming a plethora of challenges including fragmented coordination of the sector, checkmating the high incidence of unqualified and untrained hands which dabble into the professional terrain, prevalence of fake and counterfeit medicines because of a glaring inadequacy in the implementation mode of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG), dearth of inculcation of technology, poor access to capital and infrastructures which are below par.

“ACPN also called for effective regulatory controls in the quest for Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) and appealed for legislative action in key areas like the establishment of the Federal and State Task Forces on fake and counterfeit drugs, which it identified as the ‘’inherent weaknesses in the Pharmacy and Drug statutes that encourages criminal elements and merchants of death to get away with impunity in the pharma sector.’’

The body of Community Pharmacists advocated for “proper funding of National Agency for Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) and Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) to enable these agencies meet the expectations of consumers of health, while also encouraging these agencies to abrogate some of the tariffs which have become burdensome on pharmaceutical manufacturers as well as importers; particularly at a time the escalating cost of drugs cannot be left solely to the vagaries of the impressive Executive order on the pharma-sector to crush drug prices.’’