All of the following are compensatory mechanisms that occur during the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure EXCEPT:
a) An increase in ventricular end-diastolic volume
b) An increase in the concentration of plasma catecholamines
c) An increase in vagal tone
d) Increased activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone syste
All of the following are normally involved in the pathogenesis of heart failure EXCEPT:
a) A cardiac lesion that impairs cardiac output
b) An increase in peripheral vascular resistance
c) A decrease in preload
d) An increase in sodium and water retention
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control NCDC has warned against the myths some Nigerians have about the Coronavirus disease.
The NCDC in a post shared on Twitter warned that the consumption of lemon, ginger, garlic, palm oil doesn’t protect or prevent against Coronavirus.
The agency also stated that drinking or spraying of Dettol all over one’s body doesn’t kill Coronavirus
Consuming lemon, garlic, ginger, palm oil does not protect against Coronavirus- NCDC warns
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 12:30 pm on Wednesday 1st April disclosed that there are 12 new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 151 persons infected with the disease.
According to the data provided, nine new cases were recorded in Osun, two in Edo and one in Ekiti State. Nine have been discharged with two deaths.
Currently; Lagos- 82 FCT- 28 Osun- 14 Oyo- 8 Ogun- 4 Edo- 4 Kaduna- 3 Enugu- 2 Bauchi- 2 Ekiti- 2 Rivers-1 Benue- 1
I indeed appreciate your support and encouragement these 41 years that we have published Pharmanews – Your Global Health Journal.
I wish to assure you that despite the current COVID-19 outbreak, we will continue to publish monthly editions of Pharmanews, by the grace of God. Hitherto, we have been fully online and also producing the hard copies. We have published and distributed the March edition. We intensified reaching out online through our website and app, and through mailing of the pdf version.
Production of the April edition is in progress, as our staff are working hard to get it published this month as scheduled. The pdf version will be widely distributed through our website (www.pharmanewsonline.com) which has continued to be updated with the latest news and information on the global pandemic and other events. The hard copies will follow when the environment becomes conducive.
Currently, our website receives an average of 95, 000 hits per day and about 4 million hits monthly. We have over 6,500 daily average visitors and over 230,000 monthly visitors and 6000 monthly page views. These statistics will definitely improve during this period and our advertisers, in particular, will have the added benefit of a wider exposure and reach, as more readers access our online contents in the comfort of their homes.
I thank you for remaining with us as our partners-in-progress during this COVID-19 pandemic. By the grace of God, we all shall come out of it much stronger.
Ifeanyi Atueyi,
Publisher, Pharmanews.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” so said Sir Winston Churchill. And this seemed to be the dominant thought in the mind of Ayobami Michael Olushola, president, Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students (PANS), as he reflected on the recent saga of mass failure in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. Speaking with Pharmanews in an exclusive interview, the final year student of the pharmacy faculty, bared his mind on this and other burning issues in pharmacy education in Nigeria. Excerpts:
Why did you decide to study Pharmacy?
To be honest, the choice to studying Pharmacy for me didn’t start as a childhood dream. It was never really in the picture and neither were a lot of the other popular academic options in the health sector. In any case, I have always felt that I have the ability to prosper in any field.
When I began my pharmacy programme, I probably wouldn’t have been able to give a satisfactory answer to this question. However, five years onward, I can say that I am studying Pharmacy to be a symbol and a drive for those behind me in the race of actualising purpose.
How did you arrive at the decision to become PANS-OAU president?
Ever since I came into Ife, I had always found myself in one thing or the other for the benefit of PANS. I served on committees in my 100 Level days. I was also made to serve as the public relations officer of the association under the Ojelabi Jesujoba administration in 300 Level. Through all this, I was a member of the debating and literary arm of the association, as well as the faculty football team.
I served as the head of Publicity and Logistics Committee for consecutive PANS week programmes. All this culminated in me seeing the beauty in the synergy that makes up Ife Pharmacy. For the purpose of continuity and increase, I decided to take the bold step to help channel Ife Pharmacy into greater heights as a body. And as God would have it, here we are today.
What aspects of your responsibilities as president do you consider particularly challenging so far?
Definitely a lot of aspects of leadership in such a sphere start off as being tasking at first and it is the responsibility of the leader to rise above them and succeed. For me here in PANS-OAU, the aspect that I consider most challenging so far is taking the numerous ideas, visions and potentials domiciled here in Ife Pharmacy and helping them get beyond the confines of Ile Ife to external bodies that will help push them to the needed destinations.
The scandal of “sex-for-marks” has become a major issue in universities recently, especially OAU. How would you react to this as it affects the faculty of pharmacy.
Such issues as this are some of the things that place a dark cloud on the genuine efforts of many honest students around, and it is sad that our very own Great Ife which is known for learning and culture, is in the public view for a matter like this.
However, I can confidently say that, regarding the lecturers and students in this great faculty, such issues have not and cannot be a thing to give thought to. With respect to the nobility we are known for, decency and honesty remains the crests written on the pages of the heart of all here in Ife Pharmacy.
Amidst a tight academic session, you are expected deliver on your mandate as president, as well as excel academically, how have you been juggling these?
I can only honestly answer this question at the end of my tenure. To be honest, I really do hope I can give a good account at the end of it all as this is a new challenge and I trust God for the strength to pull through. I have a personal target regarding this, which is known to a lot in Ife Pharmacy actually, as I would like to set a precedence of balance in excelling academically and also increase in capacity and ability.
Is it true that the pharmacy curriculum is cumbersome and does not allow pharmacy students to participate in social activities like other students?
If the flight ticket from Lagos to Abuja is 20,000 naira and takes one hour, the flight ticket to Ottawa in Canada from that same Lagos state will definitely require more, both with respect to time and amount. This is the case of the curriculum in pharmacy school. Does it require more from its students, with respect to volume and quality of knowledge? Yes, it does. Does it require more in terms of time and effort, as it pertains to the peculiarities needed to produce a competent and dependable pharmacist? Yes it does. Does this mean lesser time for pharmacy students, compared to their colleagues on campus? Yes it does and it also means that the average pharmacy student is more given to proper time management, multitasking ability, as well as the ability to find a balance amidst different pulls.
There have been mixed reactions towards the recent issue of mass failure in your faculty. As the number one pharmacy student in this school, how would you react to this?
As PANS-OAU, we are really disheartened by the news making waves, regarding mass failure from our noble faculty. The results do not tell the story of how much effort and work the students put in over the past academic year. As students, it is our wish and goal that, at the end of every academic year, we can boldly say we have confidently run the required race and can produce results that match our efforts. That is why, as a family, both the students and the faculty have carefully looked into the necessary things, the required checks, as well as improvements, as we all strive to ensure that the fruits of all our labour here will be pleasing to every eye that sees it.
There are reports that some pharmacy schools operate “withdrawal policy” over poor academic performance. What do you think of this?
I doubt that one can see any student that believes that withdrawal of students, especially pharmacy students, is the best way to go. True, the road that brings about withdrawal here in Ife isn’t one that doesn’t offer a second chance before a final verdict is delivered. However, we must also remember that some of the great men of science that laid most of the foundations that we now build upon are men that failed countless times but were unwavering in their quest for success.
I believe that all pharmacy students should be afforded this privilege as well. While understanding the rigorous amounts of work this involves, I believe that the second fall should not be what will make us bring the issue of withdrawal to the table, as a second fall is not enough to boldly say that such a man cannot stand again and jump to reach for the skies.
Where do you see PANS-OAU by the time you will be leaving office?
The goal is to have a more harmonised home of men with the same goals and potentials come together and begin to posit moves that will help benefit the profession, the country and the world at large.
PANS-OAU has always been a hub for great minds and this I believe can only get better. Years to come, I see an association filled with men and women of capacity, ideas and resources able to benefit and improve the profession, the country and the world, even from the early years of being undergraduates.
– As Governor El-Rufai’s wife tests negative
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 11:15 am on Tuesday 31st March disclosed that there are four new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 135 persons infected with the disease.
According to the data provided, four new cases were recorded three in Osun and one in Ogun.
Also, the wife of Kaduna State governor, Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, has said that her test result for coronavirus has returned negative.
She disclosed this on her Twitter page stating; “Dear Tweeps, My COVID-ONE-NINE test result is out. I’m NEGATIVE. Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes. #StayAtHomeStaySafe”she tweeted
Currently; Lagos- 81 FCT- 25 Ogun- 4 Enugu- 2 Ekiti- 1 Oyo- 8 Edo- 2 Bauchi- 2 Osun-5 Rivers-1 Benue- 1 Kaduna- 3
Born 86 years ago, Pharm. (Mrs) Modupe Oluwole is one of the pioneers of hospital pharmacy practice in Nigeria. With a vast wealth of experience garnered within the country and overseas, the octogenarian pharmacist has had memorable stints in paediatric, geriatric, maternity, infectious diseases and general hospital practice.
In this recent chat with Pharmanews in Lagos, Oluwole, who founded the now rested Modus Pharmacy in Surulere, Lagos, bares her mind on a number of issues affecting pharmacy practice in Nigeria. She also shares some of her life experiences after retirement from active service. Excerpts
Ma, can you tell us a little about your background and education?
I attended the oldest girl’s secondary school in Lagos. When we graduated, the school was moved to Ibadan to form St Ann’s School, Ibadan. We celebrated our 150th anniversary a few months ago. After that, I went to pharmacy school, Yaba, and finished in December, 1954.
After graduation, I first worked with Kingsway Stores Dispensary. There was a pharmacy inside that big Kingsway building – that was where I first worked with a few of my colleagues. One was my classmate, Mrs Onasanya of Bola Chemists, and two others, were my senior colleagues at the pharmacy school. After that, we decided to work with the government.
So we went to general hospital, Lagos, where I worked briefly before being transferred to Massey Street Maternity Hospital. That was the only maternity hospital in Lagos at that time. After some time, I went abroad to join my fiancée in 1956. We got married and I started working in a few hospitals there, ranging from general hospital, paediatric hospital, infectious diseases hospital and lastly, I worked at a geriatric hospital, taking care of old people. So I was able to gain a lot of experience.
After about five-and-a-half years, we returned home. Then I started work again at Poly Clinic before it was turned to Children’s hospital. When the Lagos State Teaching Hospital was started, I became one of the pioneer staff to be employed as a pharmacist. I spent about 10 years there before our retirement during General Murtala Mohammed era. Then, I started my own community pharmacy business, named Modus Pharmacy.
When my husband became a priest, we had to move from place to place. While we were still in mainland Lagos, I was still able to manage the business until we were posted to Epe. When I got to Epe, I tried managing for one month, then I saw it wasn’t that easy. So I stayed back at home. Somebody was in charge but I wasn’t quite pleased because I wanted the best for the pharmacy. Already, people in the area had become very familiar with the pharmacy as a place where you would get what you wanted, I didn’t want the name to be tarnished. I carried on, until we came back to Lagos. By the time I got to Lagos, I tried to push further but old age was creeping in, so things were not the same again. I decided to let the business go rather than spoil the name I have made.
During your years of practice, you concentrated on hospital pharmacy practice. What prompted your decision to study Pharmacy and narrow down your practice to hospital pharmacy?
I wanted to study Medicine and my father was very much interested in me studying Medicine. My father was already saving up for me to go abroad to study Medicine, which was the only place you could study Medicine at that time. But when it became impossible, he begged me to study Pharmacy and that, maybe after some time, I would opt out to study Medicine. That was how I went to pharmacy school. I enjoyed it; and when I went abroad, there was a controversy about my certificate but when they saw my performance, they were satisfied and offered me employment in all the places I have earlier mentioned.
I was going once a week to man all these pharmacies. My boss at that time was a very strict woman but was very fond of me. I did all these, until we returned home. At that time in Nigeria, it wasn’t easy to set up a pharmacy. I first went to Kingsway dispensaries where I worked during the holiday. After this, I moved to hospital pharmacy practice and since then, I have been in hospital pharmacy practice.
When would you consider the most memorable time in your years of practice?
When I was in LUTH, I became the acting head of Pharmacy Department and I instilled discipline. Coincidentally, three of my classmates at the pharmacy school were there with me.
There was a vacancy then and the chairman of the board, a very strict man, Professor Orisejolomi Thomas, was asked who would take over as head of the department. He wasted no time in recommending me and said he had confidence in me. That was how I took over and I enjoyed working with my team.
Discipline was perfect and my classmates working with me cooperated very well. We ensured that drugs were always available in the hospital. There was a time a professor came for drugs and we didn’t have it. It was a May & Baker product. So we phoned May & Baker and they said that particular drug when imported was always sent to the north because the particular illness which the drug was used for was rampant in the north; so they didn’t have it in Lagos at all.
I went to Professor Thomas to complain that I had problems; so he got in touch with one of the top army officials in government and they radioed their branch in London and they gave me time to meet the airplane crew at Ikeja airport to receive the drugs.
There were few cases like that where I had to go the extra mile to render services, instead of just announcing that the drug wasn’t available and then sit down to do nothing to help the situation. I raised the standard, not just through personal efforts, but through the help of God and the cooperation of the people working with me.
Looking back now, how would you assess the current state of service delivery in our hospitals and healthcare facilities?
I don’t want to criticise. People are doing their best but sometimes I don’t think their best is good enough for Nigeria. When I left LUTH, a classmate of mine took over and did his best. He carried on with the work. But now, I don’t even know anybody there again. They are all gone. All of them are gone but the sad thing is that you go to the hospital, drugs are prescribed for you and they give you the prescription to go out and buy. There are pharmacies around the hospital where you go to buy drugs. You no longer receive prescription and you go straight to the hospital pharmacy department to obtain the drugs, even if you have to pay for it.
Those days, when you were in the ward, you didn’t have to send people to go and buy drugs for you. Every morning, baskets were sent from the wards to the pharmacy department. A request was made, then you would fill the baskets and change all the labels that needed to be changed. That was the first work every morning in the pharmacy department.
I don’t know if they still do that in the department these days. These days, when there are no drugs, the patient will ask a member of his family to go out and buy them.
What are the areas of pharmacy practice in Nigeria that you would like to see improvements?
I would like to see that these pharmacies are manned by pharmacists. Most of the pharmacies all over the places now are owned by laymen and they just put somebody there. It’s only in a few cases that you see a pharmacist there.
For instance, a pharmacy was opened a few doors from me here, but each time I send somebody there and they do something wrong, I send a message back to them and over time I could see the improvement. For instance, selling tablets in envelopes without labelling it. I will send it back and insist that they label the drug properly. Now, they know what I can’t take; so when I send people there, they telephone me to get clarifications on what I want. They make sure they try to do the right thing, at least with me, and I want to assume they do the same with other people also.
How has life in retirement been?
It’s being lovely. It was hard at first because I was bitter. Everybody knew I did my best for the pharmacy department; so when it happened, people felt bad and fought my case in the administration department but the management was adamant. That was when I established Modus Pharmacy and since the pharmacy was doing fine, I felt happy. People would tell their wards to go to Modus Pharmacy for their drugs and if you returned with drugs not packaged in my branded pack, they would send them back.
I was happy with the way the pharmacy was going but when my husband joined the church ministry, it wasn’t too easy for me, because in the ministry you have to work very closely with your husband. I tried for four years to keep running the pharmacy but it was not working as the ministry work was constantly demanding for my time; that was why I shut the pharmacy down.
How would you react to the hydra-headed issue of patent medicine vendors intruding into pharmacy practice? How would you like regulators to tackle this problem?
This problem is not new. It’s been there since when we were in practice. Patent medicine dealers would want to pose as pharmacists. At some point, my husband worked at Holy Trinity Church, Ebutte Ero, along Adeniji Adele Road. When we went there, I saw people hawking drugs and I was surprised. Then I saw their depot and so many things done wrong, I became sad because there was nothing I could do. There was a day inspectors went there. Those patent medicine dealers gathered a crowd and surrounded them. They were almost assaulted but God was kind and they ran away.
It’s been like that from time immemorial and I am praying to God and hope this thing will be sorted out. How can you just come out with standard six certificate, open a pharmacy and then think you know it all? Do you know what pharmacists go through to get certified? At the Association of Lady Pharmacists, there was a time we went round educating people not to buy drugs from just anybody.
I think the government is not doing enough. How can the patent medicine dealers take the PCN to court? It’s unheard of. As pharmacists, we have to put our feet down because if we don’t, pharmacy technicians and patent medicine dealers will take over our profession.
Is any of your children or grandchildren a pharmacist?
I have four children. Two of my grandchildren are married but I am not a great-grandmother yet. I am praying for that. The youngest of my grandchildren is seven years and the oldest of my children is 63 years and my last child just turned 50 years.
None of them took to my husband’s profession as an engineer. When they saw me struggling at the pharmacy business, they said no they couldn’t go through all the activities, ranging from buying the products, sorting them out, setting up and dealing with the patients. They were not ready for all that. None is a doctor and none is a pharmacist.
One of my daughters got married to a doctor but unfortunately the husband passed on. One of my grandchildren is now trying to go into Medicine.
If given another chance again, would you choose pharmacy as a profession?
I would. I would choose it over Medicine because of the satisfaction I derived from it. Like I do say, anytime you go to a hospital, you must necessarily come to the pharmacy. It’s the first and last port of call.
What advice do you have for young pharmacists who want to keep fit and retire gracefully the way you have done?
Naturally, I’m not a lazy person. I want to do things myself and my family members know this. But when you retire and you don’t have something doing, your body will relax and that is when trouble starts.
Like I told my children, when I clocked 80 years and they were worried that I still go to the kitchen to cook even when they hired a chef for me, I told them, I like to cook myself. But with so much pressure from them, I gave in and now I am feeling it. I thought I should have put my feet down but they would not agree with me. So that is why I’m struggling to walk now. I’m using a walking stick now. Otherwise, I am the go-go type.
Even in my workplace, you can’t work with me and be lazy. The young people should cultivate the habit of being active even in old age. So, whether they have their own pharmacy or doing something else other than Pharmacy, they have to go all out. It keeps you fit. Choosing to do nothing because you have retired is a bad habit that spells doom.
I have always been very active in church work. I faced church work fully after retirement and am still doing it, although not as much as I want. I still give talks once in a while, so that I can exercise my body and my brain.
-As Nigeria records second death from Coronavirus
Lagos State Government on Monday discharged five Coronavirus patients at Infectious Disease Centre, Yaba Mainland Hospital.
The patients were discharged on Monday after repeated tests carried out on them showed negative, a proof they have overcome the killer disease.
That brings the total number of discharged patients from the center to eight. The patients, who had been quarantined at the isolation center for weeks, looked stable and unruffled.
Before now, three patients including the Italian index case and two Nigerians had been treated and discharged from the Lagos facility, bringing the total number of recoveries in Nigeria to eight.
Also, the Nigerian Government has confirmed the second death from coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
This was announced by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced this on Monday at a press briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
This is coming one week after the country recorded its first death from the disease.
According to the latest breakdown by the NCDC, Lagos State leads with 68 cases, followed by 21 in Abuja, Ogun – three, Oyo – seven, Edo – two, Bauchi – two, Enugu – two, Osun – two, while Ekiti, Kaduna, Rivers and Benue states have one case of the infection each.
I was once asked by a friend that if I had the opportunity of taking a bank loan of one million and five hundred million, which would I go for? I replied him that I would go for five hundred million. The reason is simple: the same stress of taking a loan of one million will also apply with five hundred million.
In going for the latter, I will have more advantages if I went for the bigger amount because I will have more money to invest and more profit to make. The bank will likely assign financial experts to me to ensure that the fund is adequately secured and judiciously utilised. This reduces the risk of failing. This is why I believe that it is better to think big all the time. Think big. No one wins a trophy for thinking small. This is one of my sales rules.
Enlarging your thinking
The process of professional selling doesn’t flow with mediocre thinking. Salesmen should always discourage accommodating little figures or projections in their minds. When I teach the concept of sales target, I tell salesmen to apply The Selling Champion 1x2x20 Model. In this model, Number 1 represents the sales target allocated from the office. Number 2 is multiplying the daily sales target by 2. Number 20 is multiplying the figure you got by 20, which is approximate working days in the month.
Therefore, if your office allocated 1,000,000 units daily for you as sales target. Applying this formula, it becomes: 1,000,000 x 2 = 2,000,000 x 20 = 40,000,000. Your New Daily Sales Target [DST] becomes 2,000,000, while your New Monthly Sales Target [MST] becomes 40,000,000, instead of 20,000,000 allocated from the office.
You lose nothing by thinking this way. Think and act big always. What salespeople are required to do is to appraise the capacity of every prospect they are following up and work with the highest figure they think the prospect can achieve. Suppose the information the salesman gathered tells him that the prospect buys between 1000 unit to 3000 units of items at every purchase, a smart salesman will go for 3000 unit when he eventually meets with the prospect. He prepares all his efforts towards selling 3000 units of items.
This is how to succeed in your selling. No one expands by contraction. People grow by going for bigger targets. Go for bigger results. Work hard and smart to attain the best result. It is never a crime to dream big. Dreams should be bigger than the dreamers. The bigger the dream, the bigger the achievement – the happier the dreamer.
You stand out when you think like a champion
A champion doesn’t just think about the crown; he goes all the miles to win it! You attract respect and followership when you think big and achieve extraordinary result. Nobody wants to identify with a mediocre. Let your dreams be as big as you can imagine. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Just believe you can achieve your goals and you will. Don’t be afraid of sales target. You need to Scare Your Sales Target! Yes, you can. You achieve this feat by changing the way you think and by doing things differently. You need to look at your approach to work. You need to look at your strategy. Great things don’t just happen; great things are made to happen.
You have a lot of capacity within. You only need to believe and work hard. There is nothing to lose when you follow this line of thought. You only need to ensure a positive line of thought and work hard to make it come to reality. Thinking big drives you to go for bigger goals and achievements; it leads to greatness.
Think around the customer you are already dealing with on how to make him buy himself into your mega distributor category. Think of how you will be your company’s best salesman of the year. These thinking patterns are no crime, they will enable the salesman work harder to maintain or exceed his expectations.
When you enlarge your thinking, what you have done is that you have broadened your expectation and capacity to do more. Your capability is a function of your level of thinking. You can’t achieve beyond what you think. You are what you think and how you think.
Walter Anderson said, ‘‘You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think.’’ You are not bigger than the way you think. You cannot grow beyond your thoughts. You overcome your challenges by the way you think. Enlarge Your Thinking Style and be an outstanding professional.
The Selling Champion Annual Masterclass holds for the first time in Enugu, The Coal City!
Theme: Making of a Selling Champion
Date: 8th April, 2020. Venue: Villa Toscana, 1 Aguleri Street, Independence Layout, Enugu. Time: 9am.
Faculty:
Vincent Onodugo, PhD, FNIM, Researcher, Management Consultant and Scholar of University of Nigeria. Topic: The Effective Leader.
Charles Iloegbunam, FNIMN, Former GM, Sales and Marketing, Promasido, COO, Conoil Aviation and Chairman, Asterisks Concepts Limited. Topic: Route To Market.
George O. Emetuche, MNIMN, Bestselling Author, Accredited Training Consultant, Sales and Marketing Expert and Convener, Nigeria Sales Conference. Topic: The Art of Selling
Fee: N50,000. Group discounts available.
Please call, 07060559429, 08186083133, or visit www.thesellingchampionconsulting.com, or www.nigeriasalesconference.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 09:30pm on Sunday 29th March announced that there are 14 new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 111 persons infected with the disease.
NCDC on its twitter handle said nine of the new cases are in Lagos while five are in Abuja.
According to the latest breakdown by the NCDC, Lagos State leads with 68 cases, followed by 21 in Abuja, Ogun – three, Oyo – seven, Edo – two, Bauchi – two, Enugu – two, Osun – two, while Ekiti, Kaduna, Rivers and Benue states have one case of the infection each.
The virus has spread across 10 states and the FCT.
On Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari announced a relief plan for Nigerians, who will be impacted by a lockdown to contain the disease in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun for 14 days, this will take effect from 30th March 2020 to 14 April 2020.
-As NIMR Becomes a Testing Centre for the Infection
With confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus multiplying by the day in the country, there is the clamour to extend testing of suspected cases to private diagnostic centres, as the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research was recently accredited as a testing centre for the viral infection, in addition to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.
Concerned citizens had taken to their social media handles to plead with the government to create more testing centres with private facilities, to ease the prolonged response and restrictions from the NCDC.
Reacting to the development, the NIMR DG, Prof.Babatunde Salako in a chat with Pharmanewsonline disclosed that they are working on bringing private facilities on board for diagnosis of the disease, but it will cost a total of N30000 for an individual to pay.
Salako, who noted that the test is free at NIMR, however cautioned that they can only attend to 25 patients a day, and that is strictly by invitation.
He said just as patients pay for their diagnoses at the laboratories, “the estimated cost of conducting a COVID-19 test for a patient is N30,000 in a private facility.
“More centres can and should easily be put in place in each state capital by governors of each state with the support of NCDC.
“We are already designated as a testing centre for COVID-19 by NCDC, but we could do better if we have adequate supply of diagnostic kits”, he stated
The Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan had earlier urged the federal government to create more testing centres for citizens to easily know their status of the disease.
Lawan, who tweeted via his verified Twitter handle said: “I believe that the federal government has done well, so far, but I think there is need for them to do a little more, and that is in the area of testing centres”.
Adetutu Balogun also lamented the trauma experienced by Nigerians trying to access the testing service of the NCDC to no avail.
She tweeted :”Waste of time… people are calling toll free numbers without any success, you are here doing actress is talking. Open more testing centres, add more lines, add more handlers. Stop this nonsense you are doing”.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMSLN), Dr Bassey E. Bassey, proved abortive, as his contacts couldn’t be reached at the time of filing the story.
-As Kaduna state Governor tests positive
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 10:40 pm on Saturday 28th March disclosed that there are eight new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 97 persons infected with the disease.
According to the data provided, two new cases were recorded in the FCT, four in Oyo, one in Kaduna state and one in Osun state.
Currently; Lagos- 59 FCT- 16 Ogun- 3 Enugu- 2 Ekiti- 1 Oyo- 7 Edo- 2 Bauchi- 2 Osun-2 Rivers-1 Benue- 1 Kaduna- 1.
Also, Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has tested positive for Coronavirus.
The governor made the announcement in a statement he personally signed which was released to the media this evening.
According to him, he took the test for the virus earlier in the week and would be going into isolation in compliance with recommendations of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
“I wish to appeal to the people of Kaduna State to continue to closely observe the preventive measures already announced.It is most important that everybody should do their utmost to stay safe, stay home and stay alive, El Rufai added.”
El-Rufai becomes the second Nigerian state governor to test positive to COVID-19.
Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, is also in isolation after testing positive to the virus.
– As Davido’s Fiance, Chioma Tests Positive
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 11:55 pm on Friday disclosed that there are 11 new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 81 persons infected with the disease.
In a tweet posted on Friday evening, the agency said 11 new cases were confirmed in Nigeria: 8 in Lagos, 2 in Enugu & 1 in Edo State
As at Friday evening, the number of confirmed #COVID19 cases in Nigeria was 81, three discharged and one death.
Also, Chioma Rowland, the fiancé of Nigerian star musician Davido, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The artist shared the news via Instagram on Friday, writing that he and 31 people on his team decided to get tested after returning back to Lagos from abroad. While he and the rest of his team received negative results, Rowland’s test came back positive.
“Unfortunately, my fiancé’s results came back positive while all 31 others tested have come back negative including our baby,” wrote Davido. He added that they both showed no symptoms, but would be self-isolating as a safety measure.
“We are however doing perfectly fine and she is even still to show any symptoms whatsoever. She is now being quarantined and I have also gone into full self- isolation for the minimum 14 days,” he added. “I want to use this opportunity to thank you all for your endless love and prayers in advance and to urge everyone to please stay at home as we control the spread of this virus! Together we can beat this!”
There are now around 4,000 cases of coronavirus across Africa. The virus has claimed the lives of Cameroonian afro-jazz pioneer Manu Dibango, Zimbabwean media personality Zororo Makamba and South African traditional healer Credo Mutwa. On Monday, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Ndaba Mandela also announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Following the initiative of the Lagos State government to create more isolation centres as cases of the novel Coronavirus escalates in the state, preparations are ongoing at the Ikorodu General Hospital to provide space and equip healthcare workers ahead of the development.
Pharmanewsonline reports that with the latest update on COVID-19 in Nigeria as disclosed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which stood at 81 confirmed cases as at Friday evening, with Lagos leading with the highest number of 52 patients, the proactive decision of the state is commendable.
In a chat with a staff of the secondary health facility who preferred to speak on the ground of anonymity, he disclosed that the hospital is preparing the male and the female wards for any spill over of confirmed COVID-19 cases from the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Yaba, as directed by the governor.
He further noted that training of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, and other healthcare workers in the hospital will commence soonest by the Health Service Commission, in order to effectively build their capacity in dealing with the infectious disease patients.
According to our source who revealed that adequate preparation is going on to make provision for enough bed spaces in the facility, “We are no longer admitting patients in our male and female wards, as we attend to those already admitted to get better and be discharged”, he stated.
Although Ikorodu has not confirmed any case of the disease, he said, but as directed by the state government, movement of patients from the IDH, Yaba can be made across the five divisions of Lagos – beGbagada General Hospital, Badagry General Hospital, General Hospital Lagos Island, Ikorodu General Hospital and General Hospital Epe.
Our source also remarked on the latest partnership of the state government with the management of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) in setting up a new isolation and treatment centre at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena (formerly Onikan Stadium) as additional measure to handle the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
When our correspondent visited the Ikorodu General Hospital on Friday, it was observed that the facility was COVID-19 preventive compliant, as health workers were seen well-kitted with safety and protective apparatus, special tents created within the compound to allow patients practice social distancing while awaiting their consultation time, handwashing centres created at every points with running water and soap, while everyone was Coronavirus conscious.
It was learnt that sensitisation lectures are conducted daily to enlighten patients on the need to maintain personal hygiene, protect themselves when attending to any sick person in their neighbourhood, putting on of face masks and wearing of hand gloves, to prevent contacting the infection from any unconfirmed sources.
He said: “More importantly, we are using this medium to tell anyone without cogent reason for visiting the hospital to stay back, and use any other means available to them to pass their information, as this is a very risky period for anyone to come to the hospital without a germane issue for coming”.
He however explained that their emergency unit is still treating and admitting emergency cases irrespective of the Coronavirus isolation centre preparation.
Speaking with one of the patients named Titilayo Adedayo on the development, she expressed fears on the issue, saying if the plan really comes to fruition, patients will be scared of coming to seek care in the facility, as it will predispose them to the infection.
Her words: “We are pleading with government to find alternative locations for the creation of more isolation centres, as this plan to come over to Ikorodu may not favour we the patients”.
Idiosyncratic reaction of a drug is:
a) A type of hypersensitivity reaction
b) A type of drug antagonism
c) Unpredictable, inherent, qualitatively abnormal reaction to a drug
d) Quantitatively exaggerated response
A teratogenic action is:
a) Toxic action on the liver
b) Negative action on the fetus causing fetal malformation
c) Toxic action on blood system
d) Toxic action on kidneys
Characteristic unwanted reaction which isn’t related to a dose or to a pharmacodynamic property of a drug is called:
a) Idiosyncrasy
b) Hypersensitivity
c) Tolerance
d) Teratogenic action
The early history of the medical profession in Nigeria and, indeed, West Africa, is replete with exploits of women who have contributed in various ways to the development and advancement of healthcare. However, little is remembered of these women whose audacity to challenge the discriminatory norms that time fuelled their determination to excel as their male counterparts.
One of those female pacesetters was Agnes Yewande Savage. She was the first Nigerian and West African woman to train, qualify and receive a university degree in orthodox medicine, graduating with first class honours from the University of Edinburgh in 1929, at the age of 23.
A woman of excellence, Savage was one of the brightest minds in the medical school during her years at Edinburgh, where she outperformed her male counterparts. In her fourth year in medical school, she obtained first class honours in all subjects, won a prize in Diseases of the Skin and a medal in Forensic Medicine – becoming the first woman in the history of Edinburgh to do so. She was awarded the Dorothy Gilfillan Memorial Prize as the best woman graduate in 1929.
Savage was a co-founder of Korle-Bu Nurses Training College in Ghana, where a ward was named in her honour. As Ghana’s foremost nursing college, Savage played an active role in the Korle-Bu nurses’ early formation and training.
Education and background
Yewande Savage was born on 21 February 1906, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to the family of Richard Akinwande Savage Senior, a 1900 Edinburgh medical graduate of Sierra-Leone Creole and Egba-Nigerian descent; and Maggie S. Bowie, a working-class Scotswoman.
The Savage family had several medical doctors. Richard, her father was a prominent physician, journalist (publisher of the Nigerian Spectator) and politician in Lagos, Nigeria during the colonial era. He served as an officer in the Afro-West Indian Society, edited the Society’s 1899–1900 handbook and was subeditor of The Student. He was the last African to be appointed to the colonial medical service, as an assistant colonial surgeon, before the 1902 declaration by Joseph Chamberlain that in future the service would be restricted to Europeans. He worked for several years in Cape Coast in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) as a government physician and as a private practitioner.
Yewande Savage’s brother, Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage Jr, was also a doctor who graduated from Edinburgh in 1926 and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on September 23, 1940, making him the first West African to be commissioned an officer in the British Army. In September 1941, He was promoted to the rank of Captain and later retired from the army as a Major. He served as a medical doctor in the Asian Theater of World War 2, specifically in Burma, where he tended to wounded soldiers from Britain’s contingent. Among the soldiers that Richard Savage Jr treated in Burma was Isaac Fadoyebo, a wounded Nigerian soldier in the Royal West African Frontier Force, who recounted the quality of care that Savage provided to him and other West African soldiers.
Yewande Savage grew up in Scotland where she had her entire education. She passed exams to the Royal College of Music in 1919 and was given a scholarship to study at George Watson’s Ladies College. There, she received an award for General Proficiency in Class Work and passed the Scottish Higher Education Leaving Certificate. She was admitted to the University of Edinburgh to study Medicine, and excelled in her studies. She graduated with first class honours from the University of Edinburgh in 1929.
Savage, like many African women who practised in a male-dominated African civil service faced gender and racial institutional barriers in her career. After graduation, she joined the colonial service in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) as a Junior Medical Officer. Though better qualified than most of her male counterparts, she received fewer benefits.
In 1931, she was recruited by the headmaster of Achimota College, Alec Garden Fraser. At the urging of Alec Garden Fraser, the colonial government gave her a better contract. She was with Achimota for four years as a medical officer and a teacher.
Savage played a leading role in women emancipation and empowerment in West Africa. Her achievement in the medical profession encouraged many girls to be doctors like her. While at Achimota College, she came in contact with Susan de Graft-Johnson – who would later become Ghana’s first female medical doctor.
Graft-Johnson regularly worked with Savage at the sick bay and became her mentee. She later went on to also study Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Another West African female medical pioneer who was also mentored by Savage and studied at both Achimota and Edinburgh was Matilda J. Clerk, who became the first Ghanaian woman to win a university merit scholarship, the second female doctor in Ghana and the fourth West African woman to train as a physician.
Savage retired relatively early due to “physical and psychological exhaustion” in 1947, after years of hard work and dedication to healthcare service education in Ghana. She spent the remainder of her life in Scotland raising her niece and nephew. She died of a stroke in 1964.
Pharm, Michael Heavens, is the managing director /chief executive officer of CHAN Medi-Pharm Ltd/Gte. Born in Lokoja, Kogi State, Heavens is a native of Edo State. He had his elementary and secondary education in different parts of the country.
He graduated from the University of Jos, where he bagged his Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) degree, before proceeding to Lagos State University, for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme.
Heavens had a brief stint as a medical representative with Evans Medical Plc, from 2004 to 2008. Between 2008 and January 2010, he worked with Pharmabase Nigeria Limited as the regional sales manager, covering Lagos and Ogun States.
As a reward for his valued contribution to the growth of Pharmabase, he was promoted to the post of product manager, a post he occupied from January 2010 to January 2011. From January 2011 to May 2012, he was the organisation’s business development manager.
In July 2012, Heavens joined Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, as head of sales/national demand manager. Two years later, in December 2014, he became the national sales manager of Elbe Pharma Nigeria Limited.
Following his track record of excellent performance over the years, Heavens was appointed chief operating officer (COO) of CHAN Medi-Pharm Ltd/Gte in February 2017. As the COO, he effectively coordinated all the four major arms of CHAN Medi-Pharm (Essential Medicines, NGO/programmes, Warehousing/Supply Chain Management and PATH2 Businesses) and made sure they delivered their numbers.
He also complimented the efforts of the marketing and national sales managers in promoting the company’s brands for better sales. As the COO, he served as a member of the Finance and Medicare & General Purpose Committees of the Board of CHAN Medi-Pharm Ltd/Gte.
In April 2018, he was elevated to the position of managing director/chief executive officer (CEO) of CHAN Medi-Pharm Ltd/Gte. Since assuming this position, he has provided leadership and strategic direction to CHAN Medi-Pharm Ltd/Gte and other members of the executive management team, especially in ensuring that the company meets its strategic objectives and goals in line with its vision and mission.
Heavens is a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN). He was a former assistant secretary, National Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP), as well as being chairman, Conference Planning Committee, National Association of Industrial Pharmacists.
Heavens believes in giving back to society. This passion has birthed some thriving initiatives such as the scholarship awards given annually to financially challenged students to aid them from primary to tertiary institutions and the giving of financial and technical support to small business owners. He is happily married to Mrs Oluwakemi Grace Heavens, and their marriage is blessed with three children.
-As Health Minister says you can get coronavirus from sex
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 08:35 pm on Thursday disclosed that there are 14 new cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country making a total of 65 persons infected with the disease.
In a tweet posted on Thursday evening, the agency said 14 new cases were confirmed in Nigeria: one in FCT, one in Bauchi and 12 in Lagos.
Out of the 14 confirmed in Lagos, 6 were detected on a vessel while three are returning travellers into the country and two are close contacts of confirmed cases.
As at Friday morning, the number of confirmed #COVID19 cases in Nigeria is 65, three discharged and one death.
Also, there is a possibility that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) can be sexually transmitted, according to Nigeria’s Health Minister Osagie Ehanire.
“If a person is positive, the virus can be transmitted sexually,” Pharmanews quotes Ehanire as saying during an emergency press briefing on the virus in Abuja on Thursday, March 26, 2020.
Because Covid-19 is a new ailment, health professionals and researchers are still coming to grips with its modes of transmission, containment, and treatment.
However, it has been established that the virus can be transmitted from person to person and can be passed from respiratory droplets expunged through sneezing or coughing.
A couple of scientists have however submitted that the virus cannot be transmitted through sexual intercourse except via oral sex.
In an interview with The Guardian UK, scientist Jessica Justman says there are visible patterns indicating sexual transmission of the virus.
She also advises that when a partner is a Covid-19 case, it is better to abstain.
Half a million people across the globe have now been infected with the virus and over 22,000 people have died from Covid-19, according to a CNN tally.
In line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s directive for everyone to stay indoors, a study from the University of Sydney, Australia, has revealed that social distancing must be adopted by at least 80 per cent of every population to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Social distancing in public means people should stay at home unless is absolutely necessary; keep 1.5 metres away from others; avoid physical contact, and keep distance.
The study noted that if social distancing measures were adopted by at least 80 per cent of the population in the world, we could expect to see a control of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in just over three months, new research by the University of Sydney has found.
Led by Complex Systems academic and pandemic modeling expert, Professor Mikhail Prokopenko, the study also revealed that social distancing would be an unproductive measure if adopted by less than 70 per cent of the population in the world.
“If we want to control the spread of COVID-19—rather than letting the disease control us—at least eighty per cent of the population must comply with strict social distancing measures for at least four months,” said Professor Mikhail Prokopenko.
“However, if ninety per cent of the population complies, then the duration could be as short as thirteen to fourteen weeks—meaning if we began tomorrow, we could expect a control of COVID-19 by July,” he said.
“Conversely, if less than seventy per cent of the population is adopting social distancing measures, we cannot suppress the spread of the pandemic and any social distancing could be a fruitless effort,” he said.
“There is a clear trade off—stricter measures imposed earlier would reduce how long our lives are impacted by this disease. On the contrary, laxer protocols could mean a longer, more drawn out and ineffective struggle against COVID-19,” he said.
Study suggests tough measures early on
The research also found that for every day the stricter social distancing measures are delayed, society would need to endure several more days under a longer suppression policy.
“There’s good reason for imposing tough measures early on. The longer we delay the peak, the more time our healthcare system has to prepare for it by accessing more resources such as ICU beds, ventilators, antivirals and trained health workers,” said Professor Prokopenko.
The researchers also found that while school closures had the potential to compensate for ten percent of a lack of social distancing compliance, they only delayed the peak of the pandemic by two weeks.
They also discovered that school closures did not significantly reduce new cases for older adults, but slightly increased the fraction of new cases in children around the peak of the pandemic in some countries.
In this scenario, 80 per cent social distancing could either mean—any person in one household could go out once in five days, or, one member per family of five could go out daily, but the other four stay at home all the time.
A great relief is coming to Lagos residents as the Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Health, Dr Tunde Ajayi, has revealed that six of the patients at the Infectious Disease Hospital have recovered, and will be discharged.
Ajayi, an Aerospace Health Physician and top consultant among doctors at the IDH, Yaba, disclosed that Lagos is taking the lead among other states in the country handling patients of the #COVID19 as it has discharged two patients earlier.
He revealed via his twitter handle, @thetundeajai, thus: “Tomorrow we’re going to discharge six patients” – @ProfAkinAbayomi
“Six of our #COVID19 inpatients have recovered and will be discharged soon. There is something Lagos is doing right. Lagos takes the lead,” he wrote.
The number of cases of the viral infection in Nigeria is still at 51 as announced Wednesday night, on the NCDC website, with 8 states involved and the FCT.
Out of the 51 cases, two have recovered and discharged with one death.
As announced on Tuesday, the Lagos State government has closed 17 non-essential markets on Thursday, to curb the spread of the disease.
Although Pharmanewsonline observed that there was almost a stampede at the Mile 12 market on Wednesday, due to panic buying by citizens, who were of the opinion that the International Food Market will be shut too, but the food market is not among markets to be closed.
List of markets to be lockdown on Thursday an announced by the Lagos State government are:
1. GSM Village, Airport Road, Ikeja.
2. Mandilaz market on Lagos Island.
3. Oluwole market on Lagos Island.
4. Ogba market.
5. Ladipo Market.
6. Arena market oshodi.
7. Oshodi market.
8. Lawanson market.
9. Kantangua market.
10. Alaba international market.
11. Trade fair market.
12. Igando market, Alimosho, Abule-egba.
13. Ebute ero market.
14. Computer Village, Ikeja.
15. Balogun market in Lagos island.
16. Iyana-ipaja.
17. Agege market.
The markets lockdown in Lagos and few other states came up as preventive measures of the spread of #COVID19 as infection toll rise to 51 Wednesday night in 8 states and the FCT.
The total breakdown of infection according to states as announced by the NCDC are:
Lagos- 32
FCT- 10
Ogun- 3
Ekiti- 1
Oyo- 1
Edo- 1
Bauchi-1
Osun-1
Rivers-1
Total: 51 confirmed cases, with 2 discharged and 1 death.
I humbly bring good tidings and solidarity message to all nurses and midwives in Nigeria, as we celebrate Year 2020 as the year of nurses and midwives. This is not a mere coincidence but an evolving agenda and a divinely-driven circumstance which encompasses global actions, objectives and programmes to resuscitate the spirit and letters of that great phenomenon, nursing.
I felicitate with the entire nursing and midwifery community for our selfless services. I urge us to redouble and strongly reinvigorate our numerous efforts at repositioning the health sector and providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare services to the Nigerian populace.
It is in the realisation of our numerous vital roles that the global community decided to celebrate and give pride of place to nurses and midwives worldwide, which further gives credence and support to our great works, towards the attainment of welfare for the less-privileged, women, children and those who can neither afford medical tourism nor afford private healthcare services.
Nursing and midwifery services are the hope of the Nigerian masses, whose advocates we are. As advocates and solicitors for the right to health of the citizenry, as fundamentally stipulated in Article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Right by the United Nations, this mission calls on all nurses and midwives to vigorously pursue the goal.
Nigeria, as part of the global community, is witnessing various challenges in the attainment of efficient healthcare services through (UHC). At the centre of the struggle for the attainment of UHC are the nurses and midwives, who are often the unsung heroes and heroines of the health sector.
Nurses and midwives fundamentally are the peoples’ advocates on health affairs, and they serve as the pivot around which other healthcare professionals revolve to deliver their services. While the importance of nurses and midwives is echoed across literatures, their roles remain largely misunderstood or criminally misapplied and misinterpreted for cynical motives.
Often the responsible agents do this to cover their inadequacies or to cover the glittering features of the nursing profession. Our voices are often submerged and our roles are impeded by unfriendly policies and conspiracies which have inflicted a lot of retrogressive tendencies, not only on the professionals, but painfully on the services that the Nigerian citizens are entitled to.
Interestingly, no health policy can succeed without the involvement of nurses and midwives. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Universal Health Coverage (UHC) cannot be achieved with the relegation of nurses and midwives. It is in realisation of this that the world Health Organisation (WHO) leading others like the International Confederation of Midwives, International Council of Nurses and Burdett Foundation, as well as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) identified the vital roles nurses and midwives play in providing healthcare services in every part of the globe. WHO stressed that “they are often the first and only safe and reliable point of care in their communities.”
The WHO has declared the year 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The essence of this is to reposition nursing and midwifery globally towards the attainment of the SDGs, especially the health-related SDGs. This advocacy is to secure and enable the government to lead the way in the attainment of UHC delivery services by empowering nurses and midwives.
Effects of shortage of nurses and midwives at PHCs
The collapse of Nigeria’s primary healthcare centres (PHC) system was the resultant effect of the exit of nurse and midwives from the PHCs, with their replacement by lower level health cadre who had suboptimal training and skill. Painfully, today, we are in more precarious health situations than what it was before the mass production of CHEWS, which were aimed at substituting nurses and midwives in primary healthcare in Nigeria.
MDG goals were met in most countries that invested in nursing and midwifery human resources development for health workforce. No matter the resources pumped into empowering a butterfly, it cannot fly as high as a bird. Butterflies belong to insect family, while the birds are of avian genealogy.
This is not contesting the point that these other middle level health workforce have roles to complement the work of the adequately trained professionals; but the global best practice is not to disparage, relegate or displace the original owners of health professional services for those that should assist them.
Despite this onslaught, there is an assurance of the preparedness of all the sectors of nursing services that we are more than ever before resolved to revamp the words and letter of Florence Nightingale in knowledge, skills, expertise, attitude and practice to work relentlessly to reclaim the lost glories of our cherished health sector. (Continues next edition…)
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 11:25 pm on Tuesday, disclosed that there are five new cases of the virus in the country making a total of 51 persons infected with the disease.
Making the disclosure through its Twitter handle, the agency noted that the five new cases of #COVID19, two were from FCT, two in Lagos, and one in Rivers, while three of them is a returning traveler into Nigeria, and two are close contacts of a confirmed case. There are 51 confirmed cases, two discharged and one death.
Pharm. (Dr) Obalolu Ojo is the managing director/CEO, Merit Healthcare Limited. In this exclusive interview with Pharmanews in his office in Lagos, Ojo, a former national chairman of Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) and incumbent chairman of the PSN Committee on Research, Documentation and Industrial Liaison, examines the impacts of the outbreak of coronavirus on the pharmaceutical industry and the lessons the Nigerian nation should learn from it. He also reveals what his committee has been doing since inauguration, as well as his thoughts on other burning pharmacy issues. Excerpts:
As the chairman of the PSN Committee on Research, Documentation and Industrial Liaison, what do you consider as the most fundamental challenge facing the pharmaceutical industry and how can the challenge be surmounted?
Since your question started from that PSN committee, let me first use this opportunity to appreciate the PSN president, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, for setting up the committee. Having that committee is a result of good thinking, I must say. And the president summarised the work of the committee in one sentence. He said he wants the committee to provide an intellectual basis for PSN advocacy. That is, he wants the committee to look indepth at all issues pertaining to Pharmacy and provide an intellectual basis for whatever is the advocacy the PSN will be making.
And that is what we have been trying to do. We have handled some cases. We handled the Pharmaceutical Technology Bill, which was a bill they were pushing to split Pharmacy into sub-categories.
We had to look into what was happening in other climes, the complaints of the group and other things. At the end of the day, we were able to give the PSN president some basis for what we needed to do. I thank God that that bill was killed at the National Assembly.
We have also worked on online pharmacy. Without any particular regulation right now, the entire online space is filled with pharmaceuticals that are being offered for sale. We did a webinar that involved about 1000 pharmacies. More than 1000 pharmacies registered for the webinar, although not all of them were able to participate eventually. For the webinar, we had an expert from India who shared experience on the situation in India and advised us on what we needed to do.
What we eventually agreed on is that we are having a big challenge handling the physical medicines, not to now talk of the ones online. However we can’t close our eyes and pretend as if nothing is happening online. We spoke to a lot of people. We spoke to the managing director of Jumia and other stakeholders.
We are still on it and our position is that it is better if we take control of the process now, not for anything, but to protect the people. This is because a lot of fake products are being sold online. This has been documented in so many countries. It was confirmed in a number of researches that online transactions actually enables the sale of fake products, including pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
I have some evidence to confirm this. It happened in the so-called advanced countries, despite all their sophisticated processes of preventing such.
We are having problem with the physical medicines which are sold like ordinary commodities on our roads. What do you think will happen when it is now so liberalised that you can buy it online anytime? It will be a big challenge and we cannot afford to keep our focus out of that.
However, the most important intervention the committee has made so far is in the manufacturing sector. The question we are asking is how can we ascertain the real percentage of what we are importing as pharmaceuticals and what we are producing locally. Because the percentage being bandied is actually not based on fact. They are saying that we are importing 80 per cent of what weare consuming locally. This is not based on fact.
Even the 20 per cent that is said to be manufactured locally, what percentage of the manufacturing inputs are sourced in Nigeria? Apart from water, what else is used in pharmaceutical manufacturing sector that is produced in Nigeria? We had a summit on this issue and a lot of people came and made presentations. We had speakers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), raw materials manufacturers and other stakeholders.
Unfortunately the pace of progress has been very slow, but certainly we need to and should be able to address that challenge. I have my hands full but I’m happy we have colleagues that are assisting us with pushing to get things done.
However, to answer your question on what is the most fundamental challenge of the pharma industry, I will answer by telling you that the challenges are legion. They are so hydra-headed and multidimensional. Sometimes you begin to ask yourself if this nation really wants pharmaceutical manufacturing industries and the pharma sectors as a whole. There is nothing that is not stacked against the sector. Even the simple process of clearing what you need at the port is so difficult.
This affects not just manufacturers of pharmaceuticals but also importers of finished medicines. You will go through hell just to clear things at the Apapa port. Eventually, when it is cleared and you want to get the container out of the port, you will face another trouble. It costs about 2 thousand dollars to ship a container from India to Nigeria. It however will cost you more than one thousand dollars to move the same container from Apapa to Isolo. This is not a story. Yesterday, I paid 400 thousand naira to move my container from Apapa to my office here in Isolo. If there is no traffic, driving from Apapa to Isolo here should not take more than 10 minutes. That is the distance that will cost you more than 1000 dollars to transport a container. It is crazy.
Other challenges facing the pharma sector are that of power, which cannot be overemphasised, as it is central to all manufacturing activities. Patronage is also fundamental all over the world. Today, in Nigeria, the government is the biggest spender and we need to ask how much they are spending on the sector and how they are spending it. Even when you supply drugs to government, to get paid is difficult. Government is the highest debtor to this industry. We are working on the statistics, but if we put it together, it will run into billions of naira owed to this industry by government.
When I say government, I’m not saying federal government. I’m saying FMOH, all the state agencies, all the teaching hospitals, all the Federal Medical Centres, all the state hospitals and other government parastatals. The debt is huge and it is killing the industry. It bothers me because it is this same government that will come to your office and lock it up for not paying one tax or the other. The same government owing you. It is difficult to see the logic behind government’s action sometimes.
However, we shall not run away or give up because if we do, we know the charlatans are ready to take over and they won’t care what happens to Nigerians. We care about the patient that is why we are not giving up. It is also because we know anybody can be a patient anytime.
The outbreak of coronavirus aptly named COVID-19 by WHO is said to have put Nigeria in a difficult situation, as it relates to medicines availability, because we depend on China and India for our pharmaceutical raw materials and finished pharmaceutical products, what can we do about his precarious situation?
Unfortunately in this situation, there are no quick fixes. If there are no raw materials, you just have to get them and you can’t start today to produce the raw materials you need. It is a process. We import everything we need for pharmaceutical manufacturing, despite the fact that we have opportunity to produce some of them locally. We have been saying this for a very long time, Nigeria needs to look inward. I just hope that perhaps when things like this coronavirus outbreak happen, it will make us to pay attention to the things that are important and serious.
The things that are serious are life, food and medicines. These are important matters that serious nations don’t joke with. We have been saying that drug availability is a national security issue. That was the theme of the PSN Conference in 2017. Medicines availability for Nigerians has to be seen as a serious security issue. The nation cannot afford to continue to depend on other nations for it.
200 million people require medicines and about 80 per cent of that these are imported. Now, coronavirus is blocking importation of medicines from China as China is the source of raw materials for the whole world. Even India where we go to buy our finished pharmaceutical products buy raw materials from China. The implication is that this problem in China is a big problem for the whole world. Even the USA get its inputs from China. That country, China is a big player in raw materials and is indeed the second largest economy in the world after USA.
Certainly, except the COVID-19 is quickly contained, we are going to see the effect, not just on pharmaceuticals but on other sectors of our economy. However, the issue of pharmaceuticals is particularly serious because we are so helpless, since we depend on importation for our finished medicines and even the 20 per cent that we say is manufactured locally depends on importation for the raw materials to produce. I just hope that this incident will make the government to listen and act on what is important henceforth.
It is not gainsaying for me to say we are in a volatile, unpredictable, chaotic and ambiguous world right now filled with fear, worry, doubt and uncertainties. I have been around for over 3 decades and in my journey so far, I’ve not seen this level of uncertainty and fear across the world.
I see it on people’s faces, I hear it in their voices, I read it on social media and I feel it in panic buying from citizens in various cities of the world. Schools are shut down, airports have become a desert, businesses are closing their doors, Wall Street is bleeding, Broad Street is now a ghost place and family members are isolated from one another. Indeed, we are facing a difficult time in our world today.
Despite the giant strides we’ve made in science and technology globally, this difficult moment had shown us that we are first emotional being before operating as an intellectual being. Despite the differences in our culture, tradition, religion, belief and ways of life, this global pandemic has revealed to us that we are one united nation and our faith are intertwined and interconnected. We must rise together as humans or fall in division if we fail to realise that we are in a global village and we are more connected as a human race than any other time in history.
The truth of the matter is coronavirus is real, dangerous and deadly. Covid-19 can kill not just the elderly, but anyone regardless of age, stage or place in the world. According to World Health Organization, as at Monday 23 March 2020, 4:29 pm as I write this article, 353,358 coronavirus cases had been reported globally, 15,409 deaths had occurred and 100,608 patients had recovered or discharged. We currently have 237,34 infected patients, 95 oer cent (226,043) are in mild condition and 5 per cent (11,298) are in critical condition. The bitter truth is the effect of this pandemic will still be with us for months if not years. Therefore, responding to this extraordinary global challenge with fear is normal.
By the way, fear is a natural human instinct. It is our own way as humans to protect ourselves against danger, pain or harm for the sake of our survival. While fear is a human instinct, it is counterproductive and not the best way to respond to uncertainties, challenges or tough times. What you need to do is to be informed and stay calm. Protect yourself, your family and your community by having the right knowledge and understanding about the pandemic. Do the opposite of fear which is faith by being calm, cool and collected.
Since coronavirus was first reported in China in December 2019 till it became a global challenge on 22 January 2020 till date, various facts and insights have emerged. However, Thursday 19 March 2020, marked the worst day of the coronavirus pandemic so far globally. People around the world wake up to 20,584 new infections and 973 new deaths recorded the night before – marking a new record either in terms of death or infections. Health authorities typically released these numbers at the end of the day. Iran, Spain, Italy, Malaysia and Unites States of America all reported their worst day so far on Wednesday. Despite these shocking facts, more deaths occur on a daily basis globally by cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, mosquito bite, suicide and homicide than coronavirus.
According to World Health Organization International Agency for Research on cancer, there were 9.6 million deaths from cancer in 2018. That works out to around 26,000 deaths per day worldwide. 17.9 million People died from all cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease) in 2016 according to WHO, this works out as 49,000 death per day globally. In 2016, WHO estimated that 1.6 million people annually die from factors relating directly to diabetes, this is about 4,400 deaths per day globally. The WHO estimated that there were 800,000 people who died by suicide in 2018, equivalent to around 2,000 deaths per day.
The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime estimated in 2017 that 464,000 died globally from homicide, which is about 1,270 deaths per day. WHO also estimated 440,000 mosquito-borne diseases related deaths in 2017, which is about 1,205 deaths per day. Interestingly, approximately 3,200 people die daily worldwide due to car accidents caused by drunk and reckless drivers among other factors, which lead to 1.4 million deaths annually. And yet we still get into our cars every day and drive because we have faith which is stronger and more powerful than any fear. My point here is, there are many factors that lead to more deaths in our world daily than coronavirus, and despite that we live each day of our life with faith and certainty in spite of our uncertain world.
This too shall pass. The world had survived various wars, pandemics and crises and this coronavirus pandemic will not be an exception. And after each episode of setback recorded in the history of the world, we come back stronger because of the resilient of the human spirit. The human spirit had overcome and will overcome any and every tough times and difficult situations it finds itself. This is the time to awake our individual and collective human spirit to embrace faith and work together to protect ourselves, our family, our community and our world. The human spirit is adaptable. It can flow with any situation and cope under any circumstance it finds itself. You are a human spirit.
In this difficult time, it seems we are in the deep darkness of the night and it feels like there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. However, the truth of the matter is for over 2 million years of human existence, the day will follow the night; the light of the day will overtake the darkness of the night. The dark night always has its uncertainties and when it is filled with fear, worry and pain, it often seems quite long before the day breaks. Alas! No matter how long the night, the day will break. The light of the day will shine forth on all of us and our life will come back to normal again.
I also firmly believe that this challenging time is the right time to reflect on the quality of our life; ponder on our relationship with people that matters to us and make some adjustments to improve our relationship with them. This is the right moment to ask sincere questions about the state of our wellbeing and health as a life and make necessary changes to improve them. You can use this uncertain time to reflect on your business or career and make new decisions that will take you to your next level of achievements. You can also use this period to work on your finances; make plans to be out of debt, find ways to raise money to grow your business or find another sources of income to enhance your financial stability. Above all, this precarious time is the best time to look inward and ask yourself the most important life question, “Am I living a life of purpose?”
I am challenging you to also use this difficult time to prepare yourself for the day after the night. In other words, this is the time to be conscious about your personal growth and continuous development. Read books that inspire and equip you for greatness, do online video conference with a mentor or a coach, sign up for online course that will help you build your confidence or grow your skill set. Do something to become better this period. And if you want to fast track your achievements without sacrificing your happiness then we had you covered, send us an email to sesan@sesankareem.com.ng and my team will get in touch with you on how you can become MORE and get more out of life. We also have a WhatsApp training on Emotional Intelligence during difficult times coming up soon. To be part of it send a WhatsApp message to +2347065335797
So, stay strong. Stay Calm. Stay Hungry. Stay blessed.
Sesan Kareem is a renowned motivational speaker, life coach and pharmacist. He writes from Lagos.
Which of the following metabolic alterations may be associated with chronic alcohol abuse?
a) Hyperglycemia
b) Increased serum concentration of phosphate
c) Severe loss of potassium and magnesium
d) Decreased serum concentration of sodium
Beta2 receptor stimulation includes all of the following effects EXCEPT:
a) Stimulation of renin secretion
b) Fall of potassium concentration in plasma
c) Relaxation of bladder, uterus
d) Tachycardia
Jute leaf, popularly called ewedu among the Yoruba, ahinghara in Igbo and rama in Hausa, is a popular vegetable in West Africa. The botanical name is Corchorus olitorius (Fam: Malvaceae).
Constituents
Ewedu contains almost all of the nutrients needed by humans. It is rich in carotenoids, vitamins A C, B, K, Folic acid, calcium, potassium and iron and dietary fibres. It is also rich in both essential and non-essential amino acid, such as lysine.
Preparations
The leaves and tender shoots are eaten. Ewedu may be boiled (alone or with locust beans, lemon or olive oil), dried steamed or pureed, mixed with chicken, or prepared into soup. Jute leaves are used to flavour soups, stews, teas, and vegetable dishes. Dried leaves can be used as a thickener in soups. Young leaves are added to salads. The leaves and roots may be prepared as cold infusion or decoction.
Pharmacological actions and medicinal uses
Jute is a traditional remedy for aches and pains, fever, dysentery, enteritis, pectoral pains, and tumours. Leaves are used for ascites, pain, piles, cystitis, dysuria, gonorrhea and tumours. The cold infusion is said to restore appetite and strength. An infusion is used in the treatment of liver disorders and dyspepsia. The leaf is a good anti-anaemic which prevents anaemia due to its high iron content and also facilitates the production of red blood cells.
The jute leaf has been known to be a remedy for pregnant women experiencing prolonged labour. It has also been discovered to aid milk secretion in lactating mothers. Ewedu helps in overcoming the problems that occur from premenstrual symptoms (PMS) and maintaining the menstrual cycle regularly. It has also been advised by researchers that women going through menopause should take more of this vegetable.
Jute plant consists of a considerable amount of Vitamin K which is helpful in reducing the threat of bleeding in the liver, poor nutrient absorption, jaundice or the combination of long term use of antibiotics or aspirin.
Regular consumption of jute plant is believed to help slow the start of certain eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration.
Jute plant consists of a sufficient amount of magnesium that is required for the body. Therefore frequent consumption is recommended to normalise asthma-related problems such as wheezing and breathlessness.
Ewedu is said to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It is good for heart health and diabetes, and can increase sexual libido and aid fertility. It is also a blood purifier and laxative.
In fact, dieticians call jute “a pharmacy on your plate” due to the numerous nutritional health benefits associated with it.
Adverse effects
Ewedu should be avoided when taking antibiotics like ciprofloxacin in order not to reduce their effectiveness. It should also be avoided in first and second trimesters of pregnancy.
Economic potentials
The stem of the plant can be burnt as firewood. The stalks are used for industrial products like rope, pulp, paper, fibre and composites. The fibre is used for making gunny bags, rugs, ropes, carpets, rough cloth and many other similar articles of daily use.
Light and soft wood is used in making sulphur matches. Ewedu leaves can be used to make cosmetics like face masks, creams and serums.
As Nigeria battles the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese government have recently donated locally-sourced PPEs & medical supplies to help protect healthcare workers.
Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made this known on his Twitter handle.
He said the Nigerian government is thankful for the robust support from multilateral & bilateral partners like @UN_Nigeria who offered prompt support and China Embassy, for donating locally-sourced Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) & medical supplies to help protect healthcare workers on the front lines of #COVID19 response.
– Advocate stiffer penalties for violators of children’s rights
With about 6.3 million deaths of under 15 in 2017, 60 per cent of which occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Nigeria, medical experts have declared that unless drastic measures are taken urgently to address causes of mortality in adolescents, there may be no future for the worst affected countries.
The experts, who raised the alarm at a conference jointly organised by the University of Ibadan Research Foundation; the Special Thematic Working Group on Maternal, Neonatal, Children and Women Health (STWG-MNCWH) and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), identified some preventable diseases and practices causing the spike in adolescent mortality to include diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria, typhoid, drug abuse, adolescent pregnancy and child marriage.
They further called on fellow scientists from the over 150 universities in Nigeria, religious leaders, community leaders, and governments at all levels, to deploy all resources at their disposal towards reducing the scourge of adolescent mortality.
Speaking on the topic, “Adolescent Health and Education: Meeting the Rights”, the keynote speaker at the conference, Prof. Ademola Ajuwon of the Department of Health Education and Promotion, University of Ibadan, x-rayed the various health hazards that adolescents are exposed to, which she said often arose from negligence and lack of adequate care from their parents or guardians.
Citing teenage pregnancy as leading hazard for adolescents, Ajuwon noted that this accounted for the disheartening statistics by the World Health Organisation, which says about 16 million girls, aged 15-19 years and 2.5 million under 16 years give birth each year in developing regions, while about 3.9 million girls aged 15-19 years undergo unsafe abortions, with half of pregnancies among 15 -19 years old girls in developing regions being estimated to be unwanted.
Ajuwon further explained that, aside from adolescent pregnancy, child marriage is also a major practice that jeopardises the health of adolescents, stating, “One of every seven girls in the developing world is forced to marry by the time she is 14 years old. And she is five times more likely to die in childbirth than a young woman in her twenties. She is more likely to be beaten, threatened, and infected with HIV by her husband than a girl who married later.”
The health expert subsequently called on the National Assembly to legislate stiffer penalties for paedophiles and rapists.
In her words, “The government has its own role to play, in promoting child’s right laws and policies in the country. There should be some legislations made on this case, to ensure laws that will protect these children and give a stiffer punishment to deter abusers of children from such habit, as present fines are so mild.
“For instance, if punishment for raping a minor is 10 years imprisonment without bail option, I think that will be a stronger deterrent for rapists. Apart from that, the rapist is also to be made to ensure that the affected girl child goes to school, while he pays for the girl’s school fees up to any level the child desires. I’m sure by the time such a law is passed, a lot of men will think twice before embarking on such evil acts.”
Former Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr Jide Idris, who was the chairman of the event’s Organising Committee, noted that the age group under consideration, 0-25, constitutes 65 per cent of the nation’s population, stressing that once this group’s health is affected, the health of the nation is in jeopardy.
He highlighted the mission of STWG, which he said include: agreeing on the asset base of the nation for positive health outcomes; effecting options on what available data show; reflecting community aspirations and potential impacts of action; as well as delivering policy briefs to guide actions.
Idris also enjoined researchers in the country to always endeavour to summarise their research outcomes into concise formats for policy makers to act on, noting that since the latter do not read journals, such brief statements will enable them to translate such findings into policies for the benefits of the populace.
In his welcome address, the DG NIMR, Prof. Babatunde Salako, appreciated the participants, including students and researchers from over 10 secondary schools selected from Lagos and Oyo states.
He warned parents and guardians to be careful about the freedom they allow teenagers to enjoy, stating that corruption, insecurity, moral decadence and other societal ills are at the zenith among the age group.
“Teenagers and adolescents should not be left to too much freedom, because we see them as leaders of tomorrow, and with the several challenges around us today, their future may be affected if they are not well guided and tutored”, he cautioned.
Dr Charles Owosisi, health specialist, UNICEF Nigeria, highlighted the rights of a child as contained in the Child’s Rights Convention (CRC), stating that any child less than 18 years needs to be aware of his right and demand for it, adding that this will enhance societal respect for these rights.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as at 1 pm on Tuesday, disclosed that there are two new cases of the virus in the country making a total of 42 persons infected with the disease.
Making the disclosure through its Twitter handle, the agency noted that the two new cases of #COVID19 were from Lagos and Ogun states, while one of them is a returning traveler, the second is a contact of a confirmed case.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, several days after returning from an official trip to Germany.
Although there were suspicions from some quarters, that President Buhari himself should be tested, and after conducting the test, it showed he was negative to the virus.
Reacting to Kyari’s status, Nigeria former Vice president Atiku Abubakar tweeted a word of prayers for his quick recovery. His tweet reads: “My thoughts and prayers are with Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari”.
The Nigerian current situation as at 1pm by the NCDC shows that: Lagos- 29; FCT- 7; Ogun- 3; Ekiti- 1; Oyo- 1; and Edo- 1.
Record shows that the virus has infected over 361, 510 persons worldwide, killing, at least, 16, 146 according to an AFP tally on Monday evening.
Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death in February, now has more fatalities than China with 6,077, as well as having 63,927 declared infections with 7,432 recoveries.
-As FG Orders Public Servants to Stay at Home
As at 11:00pm on Monday, 23 March, there are 40 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria, with 3 new cases in Lagos and one in FCT, making a total of 40 cases.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed via its website that “four new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria, 3 are in Lagos State and 1 in FCT”.
The agency explained that two of these cases are returning travellers, while the remaining two are probably local cases.
As cases of the viral infection surges in the country, citizens have been advised to practice social distancing and work from home, as the federal government has directed all public servants across the federation to stay at home effective from 24 March to prevent the further spread of the disease.
…As association holds 42nd scientific conference
Contrary to the perception of many, especially those in government, private doctors are indispensable contributors to the advancement and stability of the nation’s health system, and thus deserve more attention and support than they are currently getting.
This was the submission of Amb. (Dr) Iyke Odo, president, Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), at the recently concluded 42nd scientific conference of the association, held at Golden Tulip hotel, Amuwo Odofin, Festac, Lagos state from Wednesday 18 to Sunday 22 March.
Welcoming participants to the conference, themed: “Primary healthcare: Gateway to a prosperous nation,” Odo, emphasised the vital roles that private doctors play to keep Nigerians healthy, stressing that they work night and day in every part of the nation, as over 70 per cent of the populace depends on them for their healthcare needs.
Odo however lamented that rather than being seen as partners of government in stabilising the nation’s health system and economy, the medics have, over the years, been wrongly perceived as “intruding competitors, deserving the headmaster’s whip.”
He stated that the practitioners have continued to face diverse forms of discrimination and maltreatment, when what they actually deserve is encouragement and support.
They have continued to struggle and labour against avoidable odds, “Healthcare is a special project and, in places where things work well, is treated specially, not for the sake of the doctors and the healthcare workers, but because of the special place their services hold in the lives of the people, ”he stated.
Odo further stated that government at all levels must recognise that they need partnership and support to cater for the needs of the citizens, adding that private medical practitioners are government’s biggest partners in healthcare delivery.
“Private doctors should not be seen simply as businessmen doing their business and left to struggle and visited with abandonment. They are essential service providers, and in a sense, social workers. Over 40 per cent of their expected income goes into corporate social responsibility in free services, unpaid bills, outreaches,” the AGPMPN president said.
Odo, who had earlier described the gathering as an annual event in which private medical practitioners gather to celebrate Nigeria and honour the medical profession, remarked that the occasion offers them the opportunity to place contemporary health matters of national and global significance on the table.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Governor Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the state’s first lady, Mrs Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, emphasised the importance of private medical practitioners, as well as the place of primary healthcare to the populace.
Sanwo-Olu described primary healthcare as the provision of basic healthcare services for all citizens with the objective of sustaining high level of productivity for economic growth and development.
“It is the bedrock of an efficient, effective and accessible healthcare system. No nation can attain a desired level of prosperity without a healthy population. Health is the one major pillar of our development agenda – ‘T.H.E.M.E.S.’ – and it encompasses Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations to provide good health and wellbeing for the people,” he said.
The governor further disclosed that his administration will continue to formulate policies that will impact positively on every resident in Lagos State and create opportunities for social economic development.
As Nigeria continues to record new cases of coronavirus, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee have pledged to grant funding facilities (in naira and foreign exchange) to the tune of 3.5 trillion naira to some specific pharmaceutical companies in the country to enable them procure raw materials and equipment to boost local drug production.
Reading the communique of a meeting held by the Bankers’ Committee on Saturday, 21 March, 2020, CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who chaired the meeting listed the beneficiary companies to include Emzor, Fidson, GSK, May & Baker, Unique Pharma, Swiss Pharma, Neimeth, Sagar, Orange Drugs, and Dana Pharma.
According to Emefiele, the Committee – comprising chief executives of Nigerian banks and the directors of the different departments of the CBN – took the decision to support the indigenous pharmaceutical companies because the rampaging epidemic has become a grave public health concern.
This, he said, is in addition to the fact that many drug-manufacturing countries have banned or are planning to ban exportation of drugs and medical supplies from their respective countries, thereby leaving Nigeria with no choice but to produce the drugs locally.
Emefiele further disclosed that the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee had resolved to collaborate with a coherent strategy to provide confidence to the customers, counter parties, the public and ultimately putting Nigeria first.
While disclosing that engagements would be held with corresponding banks and trading partners regarding existing letters of credit and trade commitments, the CBN governor assured that the banking industry was committed to resolving all existing commitments in a comprehensive and orderly way.
Emefiele further said that the industry had also resolved that profit would not be the primary motive at this time. “Rather, preserving confidence, financial stability and support for the economy will be the overriding objectives,” he said.
CBN Governor and the Bankers’ Committee, in view of disruptions to global supply chains, advised Nigerians and indigenous companies to prioritise their import needs and focus more on sourcing raw materials and inputs locally.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed the first death of Coronavirus on Monday through its Twitter update.
The NCDC via its Twitter handle, @NCDCgov, on Monday said, “The first #COVID19 death in Nigeria has been recorded. The case was a 67-year-old male who returned home following medical treatment in the United Kingdom.
“He had underlying medical conditions- multiple myeloma and diabetes and was undergoing chemotherapy.”
The patient, Suleiman Achimugu, former managing director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), died at 2am on Monday.
The deceased, a native of Kogi State, was said to have returned from the United Kingdom two weeks ago.
He was said to have started exhibiting the symptoms of the virus on Tuesday and the case was reported to the NCDC who took his blood specimen for a test.
He tested positive and was evacuated to the specialist hospital, Gwagwalada in Abuja but died while receiving treatment.
According to a source, his family members are reportedly under quarantine at his home.
A statement from the family issued by Abubakar Achimugu said the deceased had been buried according to Islamic rites.
”Our family is deeply saddened to inform you of the sudden death of our beloved Father, Uncle, Brother and friend. Engr. Suleiman Achimugu (former Md of PPMC),” the statement read.
”He died of COVID-19 on 22/03/2020 some days after he arrived Nigeria from the UK. He was in self-isolation upon his return from the UK and personally called NCDC after experiencing some discomfort that are related to COVID 19 symptoms.
”He tested positive and was promptly evacuated to the specialist hospital. He died while receiving treatment.
”We implore the general public to pray upon his soul and the recovery of infected persons .Your thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.
”Please maintain the public social distancing and restriction advice as we all walk through this very difficult time.He has since been buried according to Islamic rites. May Allah SWA have mercy on him.”
Earlier in the day, Nigeria recorded five new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 36.
Out of the 36 cases, 33 are active while two patients have recovered and discharged.
According to NCDC, the virus has spread to six states -FCT, with seven cases; Lagos, 24 cases; Oyo, one case; Ogun, two cases; Ekiti, one case and Edo, one case
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed additional five cases of Coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 35.
The NCDC via its Twitter handle, @NCDCgov, on Monday said, “Five new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Nigeria: two in FCT, two in Lagos and one in Edo.
“Two cases are returning travellers from the UK. As of 09:45 am on 23rd of March, there are 35 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. Two have been discharged.”
Three new cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Lagos state.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Two of the fresh cases are returning travellers while the third one had a contact with a confirmed case.
This brings to 30 the number of confirmed cases of the disease in Nigeria.
On the same note, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that his son tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
The former vice president who shared the news via his verified Twitter handle, stated that the NCDC (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control), has been duly informed about the situation and that his son has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and Management.
“My son has tested positive for coronavirus,” he tweeted.
“The @NCDCGov has been duly informed, and he has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and management. I will appreciate it if you have him in your prayers. Stay safe, coronavirus is real,” he added.
Atiku also asked Nigerians to put his son in prayers.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday said number of Coronavirus cases in the country has risen to twenty-seven (27) as at 11am on 22 March 2020, with four new cases in Lagos and one new case in Abuja.
Announcing the update on its website, the NCDC gave the total breakdown of the 27 cases as follows: Lagos 19; FCT 4; Ekiti 1; Oyo 1; and Ogun 2, while two patients are already discharged.
It was also stated that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at level 3, continues to coordinate the national response activities.
Following the development, majority of churches were seen complying with the directive of the Lagos State Government of not more than 20 gatherings, as many worshipers were locked out of churches to prevent overcrowding.
Ten new cases of COVID-19 have just been announced in Nigeria, by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, with 7 from Lagos and 3 from FCT.
The health minister gave the total number of patients with the disease to be 22 in the country with Lagos 16, FCT 3, Ekiti 1 & Ogun 2, while 2 have been discharged.
He said all are Nigerians, with travel history from Canada, France, Netherlands, Spain &UK, and 1 close contact of a known case.
Ehanire however noted that all cases are stable, while he urged all citizens to strictly adhere to preventive measures of regular hand washing,
non-contact greetings, avoid crowded gatherings
social distance (2 metres), and self-isolation if returning from abroad following @NCDCGov guidelines.
The Lagos State government in collaboration with the Infectious Disease Hospital , Yaba, has released the index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria, after he tested negative to the virus and was quarantined for 24 hours.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, made the announcement on Twitter Friday night.
He tweeted:“As the COVID-19 Incident Clcommander for Lagos, I am glad to inform you that the index case; the Italian gentleman is now negative.
“Through a combined effort of Lagos, Ogun State and Fed Health Authorities, we were able to limit the transmission of the virus to a single contact.”
The governor revealed that the index patient consented to donating one unit of white blood (plasma) before he was discharged., saying the blood plasma is rich in antibody proteins that target #COVID19 virus.He noted that :“The white blood plasma is frozen in our Bio-bank and will be useful in handling new cases.
“The blood plasma will be beneficial for the treatment of new patients in the absence of a defined therapeutic drug for #COVID19 yet”.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been hailing the governor and his team for a good job done, on their successful handling of the index case.
– Says $2m is required for large scale production
Chief Executive Officer of Bioresources Development Group, Professor Maurice M. Iwu, has assured Nigerians and the world at large that his plant-based medicine for the treatment of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, can be made available for use within the next few weeks, without compromising safety or regulatory requirements.
The renowned scientist and professor of Pharmacognosy, who spoke to Pharmanews in a special interview, noted that the plant-based treatment has lead compounds and chemically characterised fractions that have been active against more deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and other lesser known viruses, has shown promise against COVID- 19.
Iwu further stated that in a bid to expedite the availability of the revolutionary medicine for patients in Nigeria, he had met the three concerned ministers in Health, Science and Technology, to work out modalities for the product to be ready in a few weeks.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Congratulations on your plant-based treatment discovery for coronavirus. You described the medicine as a broad spectrum antiviral drug based on your findings. Can you explain the degree of your findings concerning this much anticipated cure?
Please overlook the sensational reports. We do not have a “cure” yet; but we have lead compounds and chemically characterised fractions that are active against SARS- coronavirus that hold promise against COVID-19. It is still work in progress.
According to the experts, COVID-19 is the least lethal of all the known coronavirus. The candidate compound was found active against the more deadly SARS-coronavirus and other lesser known viruses. So far, it has been found active against four clinically important viruses. Luckily, the lead compound (BION -3) is one of the most studied natural products in history with a remarkable high safety profile. There are published reports on its pharmacokinetics profile and the putative mechanism of action are being reviewed.
We intend to follow a dual track of developing an active pharmaceutical ingredient with all the phased clinical trials, and a phytomedicine which will be a combination product formulation containing the three agents (Rhygyfyn) contained in our patents.
Thanks to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi and their teams for their efforts in containing the spread of the disease.
Now that Nigeria has a few cases of the disease to handle, how applicable will this plant-based treatment be?
That is actually the reason for informing the relevant ministers in Health and Science and Technology. The product can actually be fast-tracked and ready in a few weeks, without compromising safety or regulatory requirements. Two of the source plants are already ingredients in a NAFDAC listed product as a tea (IHP –Detox Tea). But for this purpose, recalibration of dose and more appropriate dosage-form will be necessary.
Sir you cited funding as a limitation to the large scale production of this drug. What is the estimated cost for the commercial production of this medicine?
We have not done the numbers yet. But because of the large scale processing equipment that will be required for a cGMP level production, we need about $2m (two million USD). The other limiting factor is the plant materials. We already operate four organic farms in different parts of Nigeria but the scale of raw materials that may be required may call for extensive cultivation by many out-growers on contract.
The International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development (Intercedd) at Nsukka can handle the single chemical entity candidate drug, while our cGMP level Bioprocessing Centre at Umuna-Okigwe, Imo State, will take care of the extraction and processing of biomass.
For easy accessibility by the populace, what distribution channel do you intend to use to prevent faking?
The Bioresources Development Group has always used only registered pharmacies and institutional outlets for the distribution of its dietary supplements and nutraceuticals marketed under the Intercedd Health Products (IHP) label. The raw materials can also be made available to different pharmaceutical companies to manufacture under their own label.
Just like your previous discovery on Garcinia kola as a remedy for Ebola, is there any similar plant-based food or fruit that has shown signs of inhibiting the causative agent of this COVID-19?
Garcinia kola is not a remedy for Ebola but kolaviron (mixed isolates) and Akiluvir (pure isolated single compound) which occur in G. kola seeds that are antiviral. We have Garcinia in capsules now. Learning from that experience, we have not publicly named the plants to avoid people consuming them on their own but all the details are in the patents, as required by law.
During your presentation to the ministers, you mentioned collaboration with international laboratories on bulk extraction of the active compound. Are you also in collaboration with the World Health Organisation on this?
No, we are not yet collaborating with WHO. We are working with private and government owned institutions in other countries in both the biological assays and chemical optimisation. The international collaboration is one of the key reasons for briefing the Nigerian government. We already hold patents on the products which means that it is in public domain. Having reached agreements with foreign countries, it was imperative that the host country be briefed in line with Kyoto Protocol and Article 8j of the CBD on natural products IPR to safeguard our interest. Although the patents were issued in our names, some of the benefits accruing from them remain part of our national patrimony because the compounds were derived from nature.
Going forward, what kind of support are you seeking from Nigerians and the government as regards this patented treatment?
During the presentation to the ministers, I explained that beyond seeking support from government in cash and kind, we need to re-examine our policy towards support for scientific research, especially in the private sector. I pointed out that targeted studies on drug discovery and development for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Emergent Infections and Orphan Diseases are usually funded by national governments, even when such studies are conducted in private laboratories.
I indicated that it is usually when a crisis of the nature of the coronavirus epidemics and other pandemics occur that the wisdom of such contributions of funds to a private group of researchers become obvious and the fruits of such public investments become openly and publicly apparent.
The norm in this clime averts the act of trashing excess foods, but recent findings have warned that warming leftover rice, potatoes, chickens, boiled egg, Mushrooms, could be very dangerous to the human system.
The caution raised by a Food Safety Specialist from the North Carolina State University Dr Benjamin Chapman, noted that eating leftover rice can make you sick with food poisoning if it’s not stored well, as cooking rice doesn’t always kill all the pathogens living on it.
In a report published by Daily Mail Online, Dr Chapman revealed that when rice is kept at room temperature after it’s cooked, bacteria can multiply. This is because the environment of the cooked rice provides the bacterial spores with water and nutrients to grow.
Identifying the bacteria called Bacillus cereus as responsible for the mix-up, he said it is present in dried rice, but if it escaped being destroyed during the process of boiling the rice, and the rice is kept at room temperature after it’s cooked, the spores can germinate foodborne illness.
Meanwhile a study published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection, suggested that boiled rice should ‘either be kept hot (>63C) or cooled quickly and transferred to a refrigerator within two hours of cooking.
Other foods listed by the expert that could be harmful to the human system when reheated are mushrooms- because the proteins in mushrooms can break down immediately after they are cut; Chicken: The protein in chicken changes when cold chicken is reheated, which can lead to digestive problems unless it’s reheated to a very hot temperature; Potatoes: Potatoes can host a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, if they aren’t refrigerated soon after they’re cooked. Botulism is a rare illness that can lead to paralysis.
Boiled eggs are also said to be dangerous: If eggs aren’t heated for long enough, they can cause food poisoning. Cooked eggs should never be left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours because illness causing bacteria can grow on them.
The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Prof. Moji Adeyeye, has approved the production of chloroquine for clinical trial in Nigeria, following the publication of two clinical trials in China and USA recently.
Adeyeye made the disclosure in a press conference at the NAFDAC office, Oshodi, Lagos, on Friday.
Explaining reasons for the temporary production approval of the antimalarial, which was banned 14 years ago due to the resistance of plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine, she said clinical trials done in China and Minnesota have shown that chloroquine is safe and superior in the control of COVID-19 and associated pneumonia, but it must be used on prescription by a medical doctor.
She said: “Chloroquine has been found earlier to have broad spectrum anti-viral property, aside from the anti-inflammatory and antimalarial properties that we all know it for.
“Mechanism of action by which chloroquine act is by increasing the endosomal PH, i.e when you have a cell and inside that cell, there are different organelles, and the virus thrives when there is acidic PH. So chloroquine prevents the virus from replicating itself.
“Chloroquine also suppresses low inflammatory cytokine, i.e if somebody has an injury and there’s inflammation, chloroquine will subdue it, but all these are in vitro evidence that was why the agency reverted to a report published in China on the clinical evidence of chloroquine in the treatment of coronavirus”.
She further explained that the clinical trials involved 100 patients, 10 hospitals and six cities.
“It was done quickly to test clinical safety and efficacy with treatment of associated pneumonia with COVID-19.It was reported in the article that chloroquine is safe and superior in the control of associated pneumonia to the virus.
“It was found that it reduces the viral load and shortens the time to get better from severe to mild cases. The strength prescribed in the study was 500mg twice a day for 10 days”, she stated.
Following the publication of the China’s clinical trial on chloroquine for the treatment of coronavirus, the NAFDAC boss narrated how she urgently called on the May & Baker managing director, Pharm. Nnamdi Okafor, as a pharmaceutical company known for its brand of chloroquine then, to see the possibility of manufacturing a batch for trial use in Nigeria.
Being a banned drug, she noted that Okafor expressed some initial difficulty in getting the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), which he was able to resolve later, and a batch of the drug was produced two weeks ago in the country.
“Being a banned product, I knew that it will be difficult to get raw material for chloroquine. So I called a manufacturing company May & Baker, Managing Director, a member of PMGMAN, whose flagship product in those days was chloroquine and they were known for it.
“I asked the MD to see how the tablet can be manufactured, though he expressed possible difficulty initially in getting the API, but he called me later that he was able to get the API. So I asked him to manufacture a batch for us in Nigeria, and the batch was ready in two weeks ago and the company plans to make more batches if needed”, she explained.
Approval for other pharma companies and adverse effects of chloroquine
She however highlighted the side effects of the drug to include: gastrointestinal upsets, blurred vision, headache and itching. Prolonged use can also cause eye impairment known as retinopathy. It has to be used with caution and prescription by a medical doctor.
“NAFDAC will give emergency production approval of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine products to other pharmaceutical companies, which have documented scientific evidence of efficacy in prophylaxis treatment in any population.
“That is what NAFDAC is supposed to be doing and that is what we are doing”, she asserted.
Adeyeye also urged researchers for more scientific evidence on the use of chloroquine for treatment of the viral disease, saying safety and efficacy is paramount and based on the former use of the drug, this has been established.
May & Baker’s reaction to the emergency approval
Speaking with the May & Baker Managing Director, Pharm. Nnamdi Okafor, in a telephone interview, he said the approval for clinical trial was a pragmatic approach to address the situation, as it has been used in China, though research is still ongoing on the usage for coronavirus.
“We commend the government for the initiative, as it is a pragmatic way to address the situation, though research is still in progress”.
Asked on how many batches the pharmaceutical company can produce to tackle the outbreak in Nigeria based on recommendation, he said that can’t be determined for now, as the number of cases in the country has not been thoroughly established, due to lack of disclosure from members of the public, already showing symptoms of the disease.
“We have been receiving calls in the last 48 hours from Nigerians who are having symptoms or whose relations who just returned from abroad are showing signs of the disease, on how to get the drug, but these people are not willing to disclose their status to relevant authorities.
“So we will produce as much as we can, when we start receiving orders from government and private hospitals in the country”, he assured.
The mechanism of valproate action is:
a) Facilitation glutamic acid decarboxylase, the enzyme responsible for GABA synthesis and inhibition of GABAaminotransferase, the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of GABA (enhance GABA accumulation)
b) Inhibition of voltage sensitive Na+ channels
c) Inhibition of low threshold (T-type) Ca2+ channels
d) All of the above
The mechanism of vigabatrin′s action is:
a) Direct action on the GABA receptor-chloride channel complex
b) Inhibition of GABA aminotransferase
c) NMDA receptor blockade via the glycine binding site
d) Inhibition of GABA neuronal reuptake from synapses
– Holds ground-breaking and debenture ceremony in style
It was a gathering of eminent pharmacists in the country as the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, organised a ground breaking and debenture ceremony towards raising funds for the construction of their much publicised ultramodern Pharmacy Tower, an eight-storey building, estimated to cost N1.980 billion in Lagos.
Speaking at the occasion, the PSN President, Pharm. (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa, said the occasion was historical because the dreams of the fore fathers of Pharmacy in the country is being kept alive with the ground breaking ceremony, adding that the land was purchased in 1979, Forty-One years ago by the then president, Pharm. (Sir) Sam Agboifo, whose last wish before his death was that the building becomes a reality.
Although he noted that there have been several efforts by the past administrations before him to keep the dream alive, but it has been difficult because the resources needed to build such a monumental edifice is more than the money realized from the members capitation fees and annual dues, saying at some points, the Society ran into the hands of fraudsters.
“As we all can see, this is a prime place and it was well sought after, especially in a highly competitive area of Lagos like this. So it took the enormous efforts of the former president, Alh. Ahmed Yakasai, with the support of his predecessor, Pharm. Olumide Akintayo, and other notable personalities, including the Oba of Lagos, Oba Ridwan Akiolu, to retrieve the land back to us,” he said.
Speaking enthusiastically about the choice area where the land is located, which is along the popular Church Gate Street, in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos, Ohuabunwa described the proposed Pharmacy Tower as a symbol of renewed glory for the PSN, saying the Tower will house a National Drug and Poison Information Centre, and Emergency Response and Research Centre, which would serve as centre for the fight against drug abuse and misuse, as well as resource centre for the pharmaceutical industry.
“The Pharmacy Tower project seeks to raise a Seven-Year 20 per cent per annum fixed rate debenture worth N1.98 billion through cooperative fund raising. Debentures are exempted from all forms of taxation in Nigeria in accordance with the Companies Income Tax Order 2011, the Value Added Tax Oder 2011, and the Personal Income Tax Act 2011, as amended. This implies that return made to holders of the debenture are clear of Income and Capital Gains Taxes at the Federal and State level,” he said.
He however assured that at the completion of the building, it shall be managed professionally outside the influence of PSN bureaucracy.
In his address at the event, an elated Pharm. (Dr) John Nwaiwu, chairman, Project Committee appreciated God who made the day a reality, adding that the verse of the country’s national anthem, ‘the labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain’, has manifested with the epic landmark the Pharmacy profession is attaining with the ground breaking of the eight-storey building edifice which will house the secretariat of PSN, as well as Drug and Poison Information, Emergency Response and Research Centre.
Nwaiwu tasked all pharmacists in the country and beyond to commit a reasonable amount of their resources to fund the project by way of subscribing to the debenture scheme, adding that all investors, corporate and individual will have their names engraved in corresponding plaques which shall be displayed for posterity in the hall of honour of the Pharmacy Tower.
Also speaking, Pharm. (Dr) Nnamdi Obi, managing director, Embassy Pharmaceuticals Limited, and the Project Mobiliser for Pharmacy Tower, said the project was long overdue having acquired the land over Forty years ago.
According to him, all pharmacists nationwide should identify with the project as Pharmacy project because when completed, it would bring honour and glory to the profession, and as well make the practitioners proud.
Obi, who donated handsomely towards the Debenture, however described the effort to have the Pharmacy Tower as a step in the right direction, saying all stakeholders in the profession and other well-meaning Nigerians who wished to have their names written in the book of history should endeavour to support the PSN by investing in the Debenture towards raising the amount needed for the completion of the building, saying no amount is too small.
The duo of Dr (Mrs) Stella Okoli, chief executive director, Emzor Group and Prof. (Mrs) Mbang Femi-Oyewo, chairman, Board of Fellows, said the project couldn’t have come at a better time, having acquired the land for about Forty-One years.
Mrs Okoli who also donated copiously towards the Debenture, however tasked all stakeholders in the profession to come together in unity and ensure the project becomes a reality within the project timeline, adding that Emzor will continue to support the project until it is finally completed.
Present at the programme were the National Secretary, PSN, Pharm. Emeka Duru; Pharm. (Mrs) Rosemary Nikoro, secretary, Board of Fellows; Pharm. (Mrs) Bukky George, chief executive officer, Healthplus Pharmacy; Pharm. (Mrs) Talatu Ebunne, former chairman, ACPN, Kaduna State; Sir Ike Onyechi, chief executive officer , Alpha Pharmacy Nigeria Limited; Pharm. (Mrs) Yetunde Morohundiya, former national chairperson, ALPs; Pharm. Ade Popoola, managing director, Real Pharma Limited; Pharm. Samuel Adekola, national chairman, ACPN; Pharm. Tijani Yahaya, chairman, PSN, Niger State.
Also in attendance were: Pharm. Chima Agnelius Ogbu, chairman, PSN, Rivers State; Pharm. (Mrs) Abiola Paul-Ozieh, immediate past chairman, ACPN, Lagos State; Mr Santosh Kumar, managing director, WWCVL; Pharm. Tony Akhimien, former president, PSN; Pharm. Azubuike Okwor, former president, PSN; Pharm. Nike Adenuga; Pharm. Tope Bakare, chief executive officer, Medplus Pharmacy; Distinguished Professor Cecilia Igwilo; Pharm. Chris Ehimen, chairman, Nett Pharmacy; Dr Ejiro Foyibo, first vice-president, PSN, South; Pharm. Ignatius Anukwu, national chairman, NAIP; Pharm. Isah Mohammed, chairman YPG ; Pharm. (Mrs) Ukamaka Okafor, among numerous others.
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