As part of the activities to commemorate this year’s PSN Pharmacy Week, an annual event celebrated by pharmacists and pharmacy students to raise awareness on the role of pharmacists in the healthcare sector, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos Chapter, in partnership with Goldmore Pharmaceutical Limited, organised a health outreach across seven strategic locations in Lagos State.
The ACPN Day of the PSN Scientific Week, themed, “The Imperative of the March Towards Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria: The Unique Place of Community Pharmacists,” featured free health screenings, preventive health talks, free drug samples, health insurance updates, and a lecture on the significance of vaccination. These activities were held concurrently at Sabo Market, Ikorodu; Ajah Market; Iyana Ipaja Market; Ipodo Market, Ikeja; Tejuosho Market, Yaba; Iyana Iba Market, Iba; and New Market, Ajara, Badagry.
Speaking to journalists during the exercise at the densely populated Iyana-Ipaja Market, one of the locations for the ‘Free Health Intervention,’ the Chairman of ACPN Lagos State, Pharm. Tolu Ajayi, commended Goldmore for their financial and material support, adding that it is high time the public embraced a preventive approach to healthcare.
Ajayi urged the public to prioritise regular health checks and to visit registered pharmacies for their medication needs, emphasising that community pharmacists across the state are working tirelessly to provide quality pharmaceutical care.
“Many people do what we are doing today for commercial reasons, so it is not every place offering health screenings is genuine,” he warned. “We are pharmacists, and we are genuine to the core. We want to encourage the public to take advantage of opportunities like this to know their health status. Any outreach you see organised by genuine healthcare providers, licensed by the government, you can rely on them.”
Ajayi also stressed the importance of preventive healthcare, stating, “Don’t wait until you are sick before you seek healthcare. Health is not merely the absence of illness; it is a state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being.”
Pharm. Mrs Chinwe Emenike, the zonal coordinator of the IDEA Zone of the ACPN, also praised Goldmore for their partnership and highlighted the need for Nigeria to scale up its primary healthcare services. She emphasised that pharmacists are offering their knowledge and skills to help the entire country. “Regular health examinations and tests can help detect health problems before they become complicated and untreatable,” she noted.
Speaking in the same vein, Pharm. Tolulope Abiade, secretary of the IDEA Zone, added that health screenings are vital because many people are unaware of their conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which are prevalent in society. “We are conducting screenings for non-communicable diseases, the most common in our community, including hypertension, diabetes, and others. We are also providing free product samples, and so far we have screened over 200 people which would be replicated in other centres” he said.
Beneficiaries of the programme, Mrs Lillian Amaefula and Mr Emmanuel Okechukwu, expressed gratitude to the organisers for the opportunity to learn about their health status, noting that the hustle and bustle of Lagos often deprives many of such opportunities.
Representing Goldmore Pharmaceutical Limited, Mrs Immaculata Ezogu, highlighted the company’s commitment to client relationships, stating that their experience has shown that solutions to health problems sometimes extend beyond medication to include lifestyle advice.
She added that the partnership with ACPN is part of Goldmore’s contribution to public healthcare and recognition of the pharmacists’ role in the sector as they celebrate this year’s Pharmacy Week.
