Board of Fellows Organises 2nd Public Lecture Virtually

pharmacy

The Board of Fellows (BOF) of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) is set to hold her 2020 Mid-Year Public Lecture on 19 September, 2020 virtually, via Zoom, from 11:00 am – 2:30pm.

The 2020 BOF Public Lecture, which is the second in the series with the theme: “Policy Framework for National Development Amidst Current Global Challenges: Whither Nigeria?” will be delivered by Dr Ayodele Teriba, an economist per excellence and Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates Lagos.

Speaking through a press statement made available to Pharmanewsonline, Chairman of Board of Fellows of PSN, Prof. (Mrs) Mbang Nyong Femi-Oyewo, said the BOF lecture is the most important event of the Board. “It affords the Fellows an opportunity to examine the positions of the Board, the PSN and the profession and strategize for their better positioning. It is also a time to participate in national discuss and make our contributions.

She noted that the mid-year meeting of the Board through her mandate promotes lectures on issues of contemporary importance within and outside the profession of Pharmacy.

Appreciating God for His preservation through the COVID-19 pandemic that bought the world and indeed the human race to a standstill and lockdown, which has resulted in a new normal of doing things differently, with frequent washing of hands, hand sanitization and wearing of masks and virtual meetings.

The BOF Chairman further explained how the pandemic has exposed the nation’s lack of preparedness and inadequacies in all sectors – healthcare/drug security, education, social, business, economy and even governance in some places – during crisis. COVID-19 was indeed a health emergency which required immediate pharmaceutical revolution.

Thus, she stressed the need to address some questions germane to the progress of the nation, including: “Do we have Policy Framework for National Development – in Nigeria? How solid is the Policy Framework? What Policy Framework must we put in place for National Development amidst current global challenges and in the future? How will the Policy Framework ensure security in all sectors of national development in Nigeria such as economy, drug/health, food and business – security?  Whither Nigeria? Where are we as a nation?”.

As a professional body, she said the PSN play a Key role in the economy of Nigeria and the pharmaceutical industry and indeed pharmacists contribute to the country’s revenue through their products and services to the entire healthcare. Thus, the need to develop a policy framework – that will ensure development of drug/health security must be in place.

She therefore charged all Fellows and elders of the profession to understand this and consciously take up this responsibility.

Femi-Oyewo also revealed that the public lecture will be chaired by HRH Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe,CFR,mni, Obi of Onitsha.

Being a public lecture, she stated that attendance is not restricted to pharmacists only, as non-pharma groups, captains of industry, professionals, those in governance, regulatory bodies, economists, strategic planners and the media are expected to be in attendance.

The event can be streamed live on all BOF’s social media handles – on Zoom, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, all at @boardoffellows-psn, she said.