Update from the Registry – March 01, 2022

Dear Colleagues

REGISTRAR’S MARCH 2022 UPDATE FROM THE REGISTRY

Greetings from the management and staff of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria. I welcome esteemed stakeholders to the month of March, the last month of the first quarter of the year 2022. We are grateful for the constructive feedback, partnerships, and cooperation from you all, towards the effective delivery of the Council’s mandate.

 You are hereby reminded that fines for late registration/renewal of licenses for the year 2022 would be applied after March 31, 2022. Pharmacists who are yet to apply for registration/renewal of their annual and premises licenses are therefore advised to do so on/before March 31, 2022, to avoid penalties and other possible consequences.

In the month of February 2022, three hundred and seventeen (317) fresh Pharmacy Graduates from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State; University of Lagos, Lagos State; and Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State were inducted into the Pharmacy profession. Please, join me in welcoming these graduates into our noble profession of Pharmacy.

I wish to remind stakeholders that the First Cycle of the Foreign Pharmacists Graduate Orientation Programme (FPGOP) has been scheduled to hold from April 24 – June 4, 2022, at Kaduna State University, Kaduna (North) and University of Lagos, Idi-Araba Campus, Lagos State (South). Prospective participants are hereby advised to visit the PCN State and Zonal Offices nationwide for application and submission of all relevant documents. Registration closes on April 11, 2022. However, applicants are to note that late registration and submission of documents attract 10% of the total fee. In the same vein, the pre-registration examination for Pharmacists (PEP) comes up on Saturday, March 19, 2022, interested graduates who are eligible to participate in the examination have up till Monday, March 07, 2022, to register.

 Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and National Agency for Food Drug Administration Control (PCN and NAFDAC) in their quest to attain global identification with WHO as National Regulatory Authorities commenced the process of global benchmarking in 2018 and has continuously been updating, reviewing, and improving their procedures, processes, guidelines, and quality management system to enhance quality and effective service delivery in line with the establishing mandates and WHO requirement.  The quest progressed to the final stage with the visit of WHO Assessors to the country from February 21 – 24, 2022 for the purpose of conducting a final assessment of all activities in respect of the global benchmarking.  The week-long activity concluded with a closing ceremony held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on Friday, February 25, 2022.

 The 44^th regular meeting of the PCN Governing Council took place on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at Fred Adenika Auditorium, PCN Head Office, Abuja. Standing Committees/sub-Committees met prior to the Council meeting to deliberate and make appropriate recommendations to the Council.  Far-reaching decisions/resolutions were made by the Governing Council for effective implementation by the Registry.

The PCN team was part of the recent review of the Task Shifting, Task Sharing (TSTS) Policy which took place in Abuja from 21 – 25 February 2022. The review meeting was held to update the policy with a number of primary healthcare tasks shifted and shared with Community Pharmacists (CPs). As the review process continues, one of the strategies that the PCN aims to adopt is the certified training of CPs to enable them to acquire the necessary skills for the provision of Family planning and PHC services. Going forward, it has also become expedient that pharmacists are trained to become certified healthcare providers within the community. This is one step towards integrating Pharmacists into the healthcare system and enhancing their services with corresponding incentives.

Finally, I wish to use this opportunity to appreciate all our esteemed stakeholders for compliance with the PCN regulatory provisions which have enabled PCN the delivery quality healthcare services to the Nigerian populace.

Pharm. N. A. E. Mohammed, Ph.D, FPSN, FNIM, FPCPharm, FNAPharm

Registrar