In view of the unending strike actions in the health sector, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged members of the public not to resort to self-medication and arbitrary consumption of local herbs.

Speaking exclusively with Pharmanews, ACPN chairman, Pharm. (Alhaji) Ismail Adebayo, explained that the association was fully aware of the sufferings experienced by patients and their loved ones during industrial actions such as the recently suspended strikes by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

“Whenever we have issues like this, you discover that patients will always seek alternatives. Some are forced to visit hospitals and that can be very expensive. Secondly, the quality of the service, especially when it comes to pharmaceutical care, will be poor”, Adebayo said.

“Besides we know that most private hospitals don’t even have pharmacists. And by virtue of that, it is going to affect the quality of health care delivery that will be given to the citizens,” he added.

The ACPN chairman however noted that the most worrisome fallout of health workers’ strikes is the number of people who resort to self-medication, which could be dangerous for them.

“As the national chairman of ACPN, what we preach when we see patients is proper enlightenment and education on what to do. But how many of them can afford even the consultation fees that private hospitals charge? Consequently, they may resort to self-medication. What can we do? One thing is for pharmacists to give advice, another thing is for people to take to it,” he remarked.

According to Adebayo, self-medication is not limited to those who use local herbs, but also those using cheap and substandard medicines because they cannot afford to visit private hospitals or pharmacies during strikes.

“Of course, we know how much it takes to treat ordinary malaria in this country. By virtue of this, I will implore the government to look at this matter holistically,” Adebayo urged.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), after several dialogues with the federal government, was compelled to call off its 55 days strike on 25 August, 2014. According to a communiqué released to announce the Call-off, the decision was based on current challenges in the country.

Similarly, the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), embarked on strike on 12 November, 2014 over non-implementation of the agreement entered into by the government, which bordered mainly on issues of improved welfare for health workers. The strike was eventually suspended on 2 February 2015. This was sequel to a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and JOHESU during which salient issues regarding the grievances of the union were discussed.

Ahead of the 2015 World Tuberculosis Day which is usually mark on March 24 of every year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on all countries to support a new 20-year strategy which aims to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by 2035.

This decision was reached at a World Health Assembly conference convened by WHO in Geneva, in May 2014 to adopt a post-2015 strategy with an ambitious target of ending the disease by 2035.It will be recalled that the eradication of TB was one of the MDGs which was not achieved in 2015.Thus, the emergence of the new strategy.

According to a press release from WHO, the strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic, with targets to reduce TB deaths by 95% and to cut new cases by 90% between 2015 and 2035, and to ensure that no family is burdened with catastrophic expenses due to TB. It sets interim milestones for 2020, 2025, and 2030.

Worried by the prevalence of the disease, the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, said the ailment has devastating economic consequences for affected families, reducing their annual income by an average of 50%, and aggravating existing inequalities.

“This is a matter of social justice, fundamental to our goal of universal health coverage. Each and every man, woman or child with TB should have equal, unhindered access to the innovative tools and services they need for rapid diagnosis, treatment and care”.

Hence, the call for new commitments and new action in the global fight against tuberculosis – one of the world’s top infectious killers.

Go into the fields and country lanes in the spring-time, and you will see farmers and gardeners busy sowing seeds in the newly prepared soil. If you were to ask any one of those gardeners or famers what kind of produce he expected from the seed he was sowing, he would doubtless regard you as foolish, and would tell you that he does not “expect” at all; that it is a matter of common knowledge that his produce will be of the kind which he is sowing, and that he is sowing wheat, or barley, or turnips, as the case may be, in order to reproduce that particular kind.

Every fact and process in Nature contains a moral lesson for the wise man. There is no law in the world of Nature around us which is not to be found operating with the same mathematical certainty in the mind of man and in human life. All the parables of Jesus are illustrative of this truth, and are drawn from the simple facts of Nature. There is a process of seed-sowing in the mind and life – a spiritual sowing which leads to a harvest according to the kind of seed sown. Thoughts, words and acts are seeds sown, and, by the inviolable law of things, they produce after their kind.

The man who thinks hateful thoughts brings hatred upon himself. The man who thinks loving thoughts is loved. The manuscriptwhose thoughts, words and acts are sincere, is surrounded by sincere friends; the insincere man is surrounded by insincere friends. The man who sows wrong thoughts and deeds, and prays that God will bless him, is in the position of a farmer who, having sown tares, asks God to bring forth for him a harvest of wheat.

He who would be blessed, let him scatter blessings. He who would be happy, let him consider the happiness of others.

Then there is another side to this seed-sowing. The farmer must scatter all his seed upon the land, and then leave it to the elements. Were he to covetously hoard his seed, he would lose both it and his produce, for his seed would perish. It perishes when he sows it, but in perishing it brings forth a great abundance. So in life, we get by giving; we grow rich by scattering. The man who says he is in possession of knowledge which he cannot give out because the world is incapable of receiving it, either does not possess such knowledge, or, if he does, will soon be deprived of it – if he is not already so deprived. To hoard is to lose; to exclusively retain is to be dispossessed.

Even the man who would increase his material wealth must be willing to part with (invest) what little capital he has, and then wait for the increase. So long as he retains his hold on his precious money, he will not only remain poor, but will be growing poorer everyday. He will, after all, lose the thing he loves, and will lose it without increase. But if he wisely lets it go; if, like the farmer, he scatters his seeds of gold, then he can faithfully wait for, and reasonably expect, the increase.

Men are asking God to give them peace and purity, and righteousness and blessedness, but are not obtaining these things; and why not? Because they are not practising them, not sowing them. I once heard a preacher pray very earnestly for forgiveness, and shortly afterwards, in the course of his sermon, he called upon his congregation to “show no mercy to the enemies of the church.” Such self-delusion is pitiful, and men have yet to learn that the way to obtain peace and blessedness is to scatter peaceful and blessed thoughts, words, and deeds.

Men believe that they can sow the seeds of strife, impurity and unbrotherliness, and then gather in a rich harvest of peace, purity and concord by merely asking for it. What more pathetic sight than to see an irritable and quarrelsome man praying for peace. Men reap that which they sow, and any man can reap all blessedness now and at once, if he will put aside selfishness, and broadcast the seeds of kindness, gentleness, and love.

Culled from MIND IS THE MASTER by JAMES ALLEN

When the dawn of intelligence shall spread over the eastern horizon of human progress, and ignorance and superstition shall have left their last footprints on the sands of time, it will be recorded in the last chapter of the book of man’s crimes that his most grievous sin was that of intolerance.

The bitterest intolerance grows out of religious, racial and economic prejudices and differences of opinion. How long, O God, until we poor mortals will understand the folly of trying to destroy one another because we are of different religious beliefs and racial tendencies?

Our allotted time on this earth is but a fleeting moment. Like a candle, we are lighted, shine for a moment, and flicker out. Why can we not learn to so live during this brief earthly visit that when the great “caravan” called death draws up, we will be ready to fold our tents and silently follow out into the great unknown without fear and trembling?

I am hoping that I will find no Jews or Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, Germans, Englishmen or Frenchmen when I shall have crossed the bar to the other side. I am hoping that I will find there only human souls, brothers and sisters all, unmarked by race, creed or colour, for I shall want to be done with intolerance so I may rest in peace throughout eternity.

Man engages his brothers in mortal combat because of competition. The three major forms of competition are sex, economic and religious in nature. Twenty years ago, a great educational institution was doing a thriving business and rendering a worthy service to thousands of students. The two owners of the school married two beautiful and talented young women, who were especially accomplished in the art of piano playing. The two wives became involved in an argument as to which one was the more accomplished in this art. The disagreement was taken up by each of the husbands. They became bitter enemies. Now the bones of that once prosperous school “lie bleaching in the sun.”

In one of the great industrial plants, two young foremen “locked horns” because one received a promotion which the other believed he should have had. For more than five years the silent undertow of hatred and intolerance showed itself. The men under each of the foremen became inoculated with the spirit of dislike which they saw cropping out in their superiors. Slowly, the spirit of retaliation began to spread over the entire plant. The men became divided into little cliques. Production began to fall off. Then came financial difficulty and, finally, bankruptcy for the company. Now the bones of the once prosperous business “lie bleaching in the sun,” and the two foremen and several thousand others were compelled to start all over again, in another field.

Down in the mountains of West Virginia lived two peaceful families of mountain-folk-the Hatfields and the McCoys. They had been friendly neighbours for three generations. A razorback pig belonging to the McCoy family crawled through the fence into the Hatfield family’s corn field. The Hatfields turned their hound loose on the pig. The McCoys retaliated by killing the dog. Then began a feud that has lasted for three generations and cost many lives of the Hatfields and McCoys.

In a fashionable suburb of Philadelphia, certain gentlemen of wealth have built their homes. In front of each house the word “INTOLERANCE” is written. One man builds a high steel fence in front of his house. The neighbor next to him, not to be outdone, builds a fence twice as high. Another buys a new motor car and the man next door goes him one better by purchasing two new cars. One remodels his house adding a colonial style porch. The man next door adds a new porch and a Spanish style garage for good measure. The big mansion on top of the hill gives a reception which brings a long line of motor cars filled with people who have nothing in particular in common with the host. Then follows a series of “receptions” all down the “gold-coast” line, each trying to outshine all the others.

The “Mister” (but they don’t call him that in fashionable neighbourhoods) goes to business in the back seat of a Rolls Royce that is managed by a chauffeur and a footman. Why does he go to business? To make money, of course! Why does he want more money when he already has millions of dollars? So he can keep on out-doing his wealthy neighbours.

Poverty has some advantages – it never drives those who are poverty-stricken to “lock horns” in the attempt to out-poverty their neighbours.Wherever you see men with their “horns locked” in conflict, you may trace the cause of the combat to one of the three causes of intolerance – religious difference of opinion, economic competition or sex competition.

The next time you observe two men engaged in any sort of hostility toward each other, just close your eyes and THINK for a moment and you may see them, in their transformed nature. Off at one side you may see the object of combat – a pile of gold, a religious emblem or a female (or females).

Remember, the purpose of this easy is to tell some of the TRUTH about human nature, with the object of causing its readers to THINK. Its writer seeks no glory or praise, and likely he will receive neither in connection with this particular subject.

Andrew Carnegie and Henry C. Frick did more than any other two men to establish the steel industry. Both made millions of dollars for themselves. Came the day when economic intolerance sprang up between them. To show his contempt for Frick, Carnegie built a tall sky-scraper and named it the “Carnegie Building.” Frick retaliated by erecting a much taller building, alongside of the Carnegie Building, naming it the “Frick Building.”

These two gentlemen “locked horns” in a fight to the finish. Carnegie lost his mind, and perhaps more, for all we of this world know. What Frick lost is known only to himself and the keeper of the Great Records. In memory, their “bones lie bleaching in the sun” of posterity.

Culled from THE LAW OF SUCCESS by NAPOLEON HILL

What’s in store at this year’s World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences? Michael Anisfeld, president of the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s Industrial Pharmacy Section, provides pharmacists with a preview of the programme.

If you keep your head buried in your work, you will miss the bigger picture of how your work fits into real-world patient needs. If you do not expand your horizons, your career will be very much the poorer.

The International Pharmaceutical Federation’s 2015 annual congress of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences will enable industrial pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, practitioners, researchers and academics from all over the world to delve into the issue of working towards the best possible pharmacy practice, which should be based on pharmaceutical sciences and evidence driven. This especially includes the practice area of industrial pharmacy.

The federation’s Industrial Pharmacy Section(IPS) has planned a number of stimulating sessions for the congress, covering a wide range of areas, from quality assurance to social responsibility.

Social media impacts on drug development

In the news recently was a story that the British Army is setting up a new unit that will use psychological operations and social media to help fight wars “in the information age”. Just as the armed forces cannot afford to ignore social media, neither can pharmacists. In all sectors, community, hospital or industry, pharmacists need to get acquainted with the rapid changes and adapt to quick communication and more transparency in the whole health care system.

A session, “Transparency and social media — the pharmacist as the spider in the web”, will explore the role and implications of this rapidly growing channel of communicationin new drug development, including planning and performing clinical trials. For example, what would happen if patients traded details of their clinical trial experiences on social media, potentially unblinding a trial? Issues such as these will be discussed during the session.

 Customised medicines

Another growing area is the demand by patients and doctors for customised medicines, not least because of increasing drug shortages all over the world. The session, “Compounding — a core competence for the pharmacist”, will look at compounding at community, hospital and industrial levels and participants will be able to hear, among others, speakers from the Central Laboratory of German Pharmacists Association (Zentrallaboratorium), which was founded in 1971 with the aim of increasing safety, through the testing of medicines.

Presentations will include “Assuring the microbiological quality of individual preparations” and “External quality control and certification of the pharmaceutical quality management system — the German way”.

Big questions

“Medicines for all” has been a World Health Organisation and FIP mantra for over two decades. But this eminently laudable goal is yet to be achieved. A session, “Medicines for all — what is hindering progress?”, will look at the impediments to achieving our goal. Are these obstacles in drug development, clinical trials, drug usage patterns, drug pricing, logistics, product development, social norms or national health policies?And how are they preventing at-risk populations worldwide from having access to medicines? These are big questions that deserve attention.

“An often debated topic is, to what extent the international pharmaceutical industry have a responsibility to make medicines available for all; this session will explore the extent of that responsibility,” says speaker Ulf Janzon (FIP IPS, Sweden). During the session, potential solutions will be discussed.

Packaging and information essentials

The FIP congress is an international meeting of professionals, bringing together around 220 speakers from 40 countries, and is attended by thousands of pharmaceutical colleagues. Perhaps, then, it is fitting that the IPS has jointly organised a session called, “Lost in translation — preserving scientific knowledge across languages.”

During this session, industrial pharmacists will be able to look into how linguistic translation impacts the proper use of medicines. For example, are patientsat risk due to poor translation of patient package inserts? And should we be using pictograms to enhance patient compliance with drug regimens?

But translation is much more – scientific translation is a key to scientific communication, enabling research and findings to cross linguistic borders and facilitates exchange and understanding. Translation involves much more than simply transferring the words into another language. It requires research, thorough understanding of both the original and target languages, cultural knowledge, and specific training on the topic to be translated. Focus will be given to who judges if the translations received are really adequate and the economic profile of scientific translation.

 Site visits and latest research

Each year, the IPS organises a number of fantastic industrial insights in the congress host country. A visit to Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturingsite is an outing especially designed for students; but the section plans to offer other visits to state-of-the-art facilities. Specific locations will be revealed as these plans are finalised.

The congress is also the place to hear short oral presentations from industry pharmacists on research in progress. Come and find out what others are doing and be inspired!

Wider perspective

Novel perspectives on industry topics from around the world are to be heard at the FIP congress. But it is amazing just how much you can learn from hearing from other cultures and about other approaches to topics from other sectors of pharmacy.

For example, if you had drifted into one of the Military and Emergency Pharmacy Section sessions at the Bangkok Congress last year, you would have heard a remarkable discussion on how Tokyo is planning the drug supply chain in preparation for the next earthquake, which is estimated to negatively impact over 30 million people. Startling food for thought, especially when you ask what your home city is doing in its emergency preparedness efforts against future disasters, and the role you can play. The preliminary congress programme for 2015 is now available, and offers 230 hours of sessions (go to www.fip.org/dusseldorf2015).

 When and where?

The 2015 World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will take place in Germany. If you come to Düsseldorf from 28 September to 3 October this year, no matter where you are from, you will be surprised at how much you have in common with your other pharmacy colleagues, how much you will learn, and how your career will be enhanced.

L-R Mrs. Oge Mac Johnson, oral care consultant; Mr Chestin Twigg, profession manager, East/West Africa; Mrs Hannah Oyebanjo, marketing director, and Mr Gbadesola Adenrele, brand manager

While working in New York, Dr Kaine is offered employment at the Anambra State University Teaching Hospital. His employment letter states that the contract of employment may be terminated by either party with one month’s notice.

Dr Kaine subsequently negotiates for provisions to be made to transport his entire family with him to Nigeria. Flight tickets are paid for him, his wife, six children and younger sister.

On arrival in Nigeria, he is requested to sign an undertaking to refund the cost of the flight tickets, if he were to leave the employment of the state government within three years. He signs the undertaking and commences work at the teaching hospital.

After two months of working, however, Dr Kaine submits a notice of resignation. He has been offered a more lucrative job with a private hospital in Abuja and has already agreed to start working with them in the next one month. The Anambra State Government immediately issues a letter, demanding a refund of expenses incurred in relocating his family to Nigeria. The letter adds that, in the alternative, he may remain in employment for one year, which would be considered adequate for the costs of the flight tickets.

In view of this, what is Dr Kaine’s legal position?

For a contract to be valid between two parties, there must be an offer and an acceptance. Something must be given by one party, while the other party responds with something of value. What is exchanged may be money, a product, a service or a promise to perform a certain action. In law, consideration is the thing of value that is exchanged by parties in a contract. For a party to be able to enforce a contract, he or she must have furnished some consideration in support of it. When goods are sold, for instance, the seller’s consideration is the transfer of ownership of the goods to the buyer. While the buyer’s consideration is the payment of money to the seller. Hence, it is said that “consideration must move from the promisee”.

The case above involves several legal issues:

1.The place of consideration in the    formation of a contract.

2.The validity of past consideration.

3.The adequacy of consideration.

The definition of consideration was established in the case of Currie v. Misa by Justice Lush. He said that “a valuable consideration in the eye of the law may consist either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility, given, suffered or undertaken by the other… So, it is irrelevant whether one party benefits but enough that he accepts the consideration and that the party giving it does thereby undertake some burden, or lose something which in contemplation of law may be of value.”

In this matter involving Dr Kaine and the Anambra State Government, an offer of employment was made, the terms were negotiated and an agreement was reached. Each party made a promise to provide certain value. On the side of the state government, it was the employment package with the added benefit of transporting the entire family of Dr Kaine. On the side of the doctor, it was his services in employment at the teaching hospital. It is sufficient to say that both parties provided consideration and thereby had a valid contract.

Unfortunately, a dispute has arisen on account of Dr Kaine’s resignation. It is quite clear, from the terms of employment, that he could terminate his services with a notice of one month. However, there is the unresolved issue of transportation costs incurred in relocating nine members of his family to Nigeria. The demand for refund is based on the undertaking the doctor was made to sign.

On moral grounds, it would seem that Dr Kaine had indeed made a promise to either work for a minimum of three years or refund the cost of the flight tickets. However, a moral responsibility is not seen as consideration in the sight of the law. In return for such an undertaking, there must be a reciprocal value provided by the state government. The terms of the contract had already been concluded before Dr Kaine’s arrival in Nigeria and the making of that undertaking. It therefore follows that the promise to refund was not based on any additional value to be provided by the state government. Merely extracting a promise afterwards is an attempt to rely on past consideration, which unfortunately, is not enforceable.

In the case of Bendel State v. Okwumabua, which had similar circumstances, Justice Uwaifo declared that “the best that can be said of the so-called undertaking given by the defendant in reply to the request is that it was a subsequent promise. The question is, as regards this promise, what was the consideration for it to make it a binding contract? In my view, there was no consideration.”

Finally, it may be the opinion of some, that for costs incurred in a transaction, there should be commensurate value returned. In other words, the consideration received must be adequate. In this situation, the state government considered that the doctor’s service for one year would be the right compensation for their expenses. Nevertheless, in the absence of fraud, duress or misrepresentation, the courts will not question the adequacy of consideration. Neither will they declare a contract invalid because one party got a better deal than the other.

Dr Kaine is well within his rights to resign, having fulfilled the terms of his contract by taking up the employment. In the words of Justice Kalgo, “once consideration is of some value, in the eye of the law, even the courts have no jurisdiction to determine whether it is adequate or inadequate.”

Principles and cases are drawn from Sagay: Nigerian Law of Contract

Managing director of Mopson Pharmaceuticals Limited, Pharm. Michael Paul, has urged pharmacy students in Nigerian tertiary institutions to take active interest in pharmaceutical manufacturing after graduation.

Addressing final year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy University of Lagos (UNILAG) during the maiden edition of practice grand rounds, organised by the Nigeria Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA), on 27 February, 2004, Pharm. Paul said he was saddened by the fact that after almost 50 years of training pharmacists, the Nigeria pharma manufacturing was yet to get it right.

“By now we should have young Nigerian pharmacists who can make syrup and capsule with ease. What do we get instead, Nigerians importing just anything! Are we saying Nigerians can’t produce ordinary antacid?” he queried.

The Mopson boss wondered why foreign brands were made to look more superior to local products, adding that it was funny how people hoped to run away from their own creation.

While admonishing the gathering not to give up on the dream of a viable pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, the pharmacist admonished that people should be proud of made-in-Nigeria products.

A Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Paul also berated the overzealous nature of fresh pharmacy interns who only focus on how much they can earn instead of garnering industrial experience and contributing to the growth of the profession with passion.

While describing such practice as unethical and detestable, Paul said that he had observed that most interns were in the habit of demanding to be paid N100,000.

“Where is that coming from? Listen to me, as young pharmacists, what you need is the industrial experience, especially if you are interested in going into manufacturing. It is achievable! Let me be frank with you, I started with Mist Mag after leaving the industry as a sales rep.

“Today there is nothing in BPC (British Pharmaceutical Company) that I cannot produce. If you ask me, that should be an achievement for any pharmacist,” he said.

The 2015 NAPA-organised practice grand rounds for pharmacy students in 300, 400 and 500 levels was the inaugural edition.

In attendance were Pharm George Okon, zonal chairman, Eti-Osa branch of the Association for Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN); Dr Chikezie Amadi, a consultant cardiologist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH); Prof. Oluwakemi Odukoya, dean, UNILAG Faculty of Pharmacy; and Pharm. Oluwatosin Adeyemi, chairman, Lagos branch of NAPA.

Others were Pharm. Bamisaye Ogawaluja, NAPA vice chairman; Pharm. (Mrs) Fatima Ikolaba, treasurer; Pharm (Mrs) Ogochukwu Amaeze, financial secretary; Dr Chukwuemeka Azubuike, staff adviser and Pharm. Joseph Oiseoghaede, secretary.

In what appears to be a challenge in the fight against malignant diseases, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos has raised the alarm over astronomical rise in the incidence of breast cancer in the country.

Addressing health care professionals at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos on 4 February, 2015, Dr Arinola Joda told a bewildered audience that cancer had become a major cause of suffering and death around the world.

In her presentation during the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) programme for pharmacists, which also coincided with World Cancer Day, the pharmacist explained that a report she got from a recent survey of population-based cancer registries in Nigeria showed that the age group most commonly affected by cancer in men is 65 years and above, while in women, cancers are commonly seen between those between 45 and 55 years of age.

“Unfortunately, the study also showed that there has been a 100 per cent increase in breast cancer incidence in Nigeria over the last decade” she said.

According to Joda, malignant disease, cancer and neoplasia are all general terms used to describe the uncontrolled multiplication of cells that have become insensitive to the normal growth control mechanisms.

The pharmacist also warned that women who drink alcohol stand a risk of having breast cancer, adding that the risk is heightened by the amount of alcohol consumed.

“Women who take two to five drinks a day increase their risk by one-and-a-half, when compared to women who do not drink alcohol. One drink a day only slightly elevates a woman’s risk. Secondly, having a mother, sister, or daughter with breast cancer doubles your risk of the disease,” she stressed

Dr Joda however opined that pharmacists had major roles to play if they were to make a difference. In her view, these roles include identification and referral services, drug management (selection, storage and stocking, supply and dispensing), refill services, drug counselling and advice and patient counselling. Others are medication adherence, identification of drug interactions, liaison with patients/ other healthcare providers, pharmacovigilance services and identification of drug therapy problems.

It would be recalled that, in 2012, the then Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed that data collected from 11 federal tertiary hospitals by the National System of Cancer Registries showed 7,000 new documented cases of cancer, which corresponded with the average estimated 100,000 new cases of cancer reported in Nigeria annually. From data available, 60 per cent of cancers occur in women and 39.8 per cent in men. Experts have predicted that by 2020, the number of cancer patients in Nigeria will rise from 24 million to 42 million (90.7/100,000 and 100.9/100,000 in men and women respectively). It is also feared that by same 2020, death rates from cancer in Nigerian males and females may reach 72.7/100,000 and 76/100,000 respectively.

According to the National System of Cancer Registry, the five most common cancers affecting Nigerian men are prostate, colorectal (large intestine), lymphomas (lymph nodes), liver and skin cancers; while in women, the most common cancers are cancers of the breast, cervix, ovary, lymphomas and skin. It is documented that the commonest cancers in Nigerian women – breast and cervical, which constitute 60 per cent of all cancers affecting Nigerian women – are either preventable or curable if detected early, even with the facilities available in Nigeria. He lamented, however, that the behaviour of many Nigerians has contributed to hindering successful treatment of cancer.

The second annual ‘White Coat’ ceremony was recently held by the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Idi-Araba, with a massive turnout of students and academic staff.

L-R: Dr Rebecca Soremekun, lecturer, Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy, University of Lagos; Pharm. Joseph Oiseoghaede, secretary, National Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA); Prof. Bola Silva, head of department, Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology; Prof. Olukemi Odukoya, dean of the faculty; Dr Bola Aina, lecturer, Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy; Pharm (Mrs) Ogochukwu Amaeze, NAPA financial secretary; Pharm. Amina Oyawaluja, lecturer, department of Pharmacognosy; Pharm. (Mrs) Fatima Ikolaba, NAPA treasurer during the White Coat ceremony.
Addressing the 175 pharmacy undergraduates at the ceremony which took place at the school auditorium on 13 March, 2015,Kayode Olatunji, one of the four 300 level students with distinction brought to educate the 2014/2015 intakes on achieving excellence in pharmacy education, charged them to brace up for the challenges ahead.
Olatunji, in his keynote address,counselled the students on the need to define what they aimed to achieve the moment they gained admission to study Pharmacy.
“By now, you should have decided what you want to become the moment you graduate. Whether you hope to sell drugs, go into academia, work in hospitals and so on,” Olatunji said, adding that “studying pharmacy is very stressful; but you shouldn’t allow the stress to get to you. You must remain focused, read to understand and avoid cramming.”
According to the young sch

In every health care delivery system, there is need for productive leadership to ensure the provision of optimum health care service. All over the world, governments and private institutions are developing and implementing unique models for meeting present and emerging challenges in health care delivery. For the past 21 years, it has been our task at Pharmanews to help deliver the requisite capacity development required to proactively champion sustainable models of service delivery among health care and pharmaceutical industry players.

We wish to invite you to participate in our international workshop on “Health Care Leadership, Financing and Innovation”, taking place in Dubai, The United Arab Emirates.

Date:            Sunday 17 – Friday 22 May, 2015

Time:            9.00a.m – 5.00p.m (daily)

Venue:         Aster DM Health Care, 33rd Floor,

                     Tower D – Aspect Towers, Executive Towers at Bay

                     Avenue, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 Target Participants

Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses, Medical Laboratory Scientists and other clinical, administrative, management and technical personnel in the public and private health care system.

 Course Contents:

• Developing and Managing Strategic Change
• Quality Management
• Health Care Financing Models and Structure
• Investment Models in Health Care Facility Development
• Comparative Study of Global Health Care Entrepreneurship Models
• ICT in Health Care Systems
• Essentials of Clinical Leadership

 Learning Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Lead effectively, communicate clearly and deliver optimal health care service within the health care delivery system.
• Understand basic concept in managing and developing strategies for effective change.
• Understand globally accepted and sustainable techniques in quality management protocols.
• Understand global health care financing models, challenges and it’s opportunities for Innovation in Africa.
• Comprehend best investment models and current management approaches and strategies for achieving effective facility development.
• Learn global best-case models for driving health care entrepreneurship ventures.
• Effectively initiate and supervise ICT integration with operational processes of health care service

Registration Fee

• $1,950 (or Naira equivalent) per participant on or before 30th April, 20
• $2,050 (or Naira equivalent) per participant after 30th April, 2015.

 Group discounts: 3 – 5 participants: 10%,    6 participants and above: 15%

Registration fee covers: Tour, workshop materials, tea/coffee break, lunch, certificates, and visa processing ONLY.

Participants are to take care of their travel expenses, dinner, and accommodation.

 Hotel Accommodation

Participants can get accommodation close to the workshop venue at an average rate of $80 –$100 per night. For more options on hotel accommodation, please visit the online booking site: www.agoda.com

Cancellation

For cancellation of registration fee, 70% of the fee will be refunded, if cancelled at least seven (7) days to the workshop and the information communicated to us by sms or email, using: info@pharmanewsonline.com

There will be no refund if cancelled thereafter.

Method of Payment

Participants should pay registration fee into Pharmanews Ltd account in Zenith Bank Plc (A/c No.

1010701673) or Access Bank Plc (A/c No.0035976695) and send their full names and bank deposit slip

numbers by sms or email to Pharmanews Ltd. Payments in dollars should be made to Pharmanews Domiciliary Accounts: GTB A/c No. 0005082226

Payment Online

Payments can also be made through our payment portal on GTBank SME market hub facility. To make payment online, visit: https://pharmanews.smemarkethub.com

Please note that payment in naira can only be accepted in Nigeria. In Dubai, the dollar equivalent will be paid.

 Financial Transactions in Dubai

Your financial transactions in Dubai will be done in the local currency, UAE Dirham. The current rate is 3.7 Dirham to 1 US$.

Arrival and Departure

Participants are expected to arrive on or before Sunday, 17th and depart Friday, 22nd.

City Tour

For the tour, temperature will be at an average of 34° Celsius. We advise casual wear with shoes suitable for walking. Cameras will be useful for pictures.

Travel Information

 By Air

Intending participants are advised to make reservation for flight ticket to Dubai through these online booking sites: www.wakanow.com or www.opodo.co.uk. Available airlines on the booking sites are Emirates, Kenyan Air, Etihad, Ethiopian Airways, and Qatar Airways, among others.

Visa

After registration, participants will be contacted on the procedures for visa procurement. The visa fees are covered in the registration fee.

For further information, please contact:

Cyril Mbata                                –  +234 706 812 9728

Nelson Okwonna                         –  +234 803 956 9184

Ernest Salami                               –   +234 703 986 8837

Elizabeth Amuneke                     –   +234 805 723 5128

Click here to download a pdf version of the Dubai workshop invitation

In this exclusive chat with Pharmanews, President of the National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP), His Royal Highness Chief (Prof.) T.O. Omon Oleabhiele highlights the importance of clinical record keeping in traditional medicine, urging every practitioner to strictly adhere to the rules. He also pinpoints the various misconceptions about alternative medicine practice, while calling on the government to assist herbal practitioners financially. Excerpts:

How would you assess the performance of herbal practitioners in the last two years?

It is in two folds, if you mean assessment in the production of traditional medicines, they are actually trying; however I will reprove them for their unscrupulous behaviour in displaying fake certificates, which they use for dubious purposes. Nonetheless, we are working on curbing this malpractice in the profession.

One major challenge of alternative medicine practice is lack of proper documentation. Is there any plan by NANTMP to correct this?

Presently, we have devised our own means of record-keeping in the profession, which the government is ready to collaborate with us on; but it appears medical doctors are not prepared to acknowledge the documented lists of patients certified cured with herbal treatment, which we have as our evidence. We have the list of patients who were so bad at the time they came to us, but they are now very well, to the point that one can hardly believe they were once ill. There are physical results that are verifiable, because the patients are well, and they have started bearing children, building houses, and so on.

Every traditional doctor does not only document his formulas, but he documents patients’ medical history, places visited, stages of illness, and recovery time. All this information is now documented in trado-medical homes. So, documentation is really vital, and every traditional doctor must ensure he keeps patients’ bio-data and medical history.

There is widespread assumption that traditional medicines lack peer review and scientific scrutiny, which make them untested for safety and efficacy. How true is this?

That is a wrong assumption because most traditional medicines, as at today, are registered by NAFDAC, and NAFDAC registration shows that the toxicological aspects of the medicines are valued, viewed, scrutinised, and certified safe for consumption. In fact, NAFDAC has a pharmacovigilance section which monitors drug adverse effects on patients, and also confiscates those drugs capable of affecting patients negatively. In order to control the circulation of such drugs, the pharmacovigilance department checks them batch by batch, to detect the harmful drugs and curtail their spread. Traditional medicine is standardised now.

The practice whereby alternative medicine practitioners refuse to reveal active ingredients in their products for the fear of losing their patent right is on the increase. How can this challenge be best resolved?

The issue is that what their grandfathers passed down to them is their source of information. However, the situation is changing gradually, as the leadership of NANTMP is leading by example for others to emulate and change their unethical practices. For instance, someone called me from Akure in Ondo State recently, and said he was surfing the web on remedies for an infection in his body. He said he discovered I could cure the case with a plant called cassia prodocappa. If I didn’t reveal the content of the medicine, it would be difficult for the patient to know cassia prodocappa. To this end, I will say that we normally reveal our active principles – though not all practitioners are practising on a level ground. However, since my humble self as the president of NANTMP has started the campaign, others have no choice than to do same.

On dosage, from time immemorial, dosage has always been available for various herbal medicines, but break in communication creates confusion among patients. It is the practitioner who formulates a compound that can actually give the right dosage for the compound. Dosage of traditional medicines is either half a teaspoon, a teaspoon, a shot or half a shot, and it could be powder or liquid.

In what ways can the government and research institutions assist traditional practitioners to make their products safety and efficacy compliant?

Government can give grants to herbal practitioners or instruct the bank of industry to create soft loans for manufacturers, with laid down criteria for beneficiaries to fulfil. This will go a long way in expanding our traditional herbal medicine industry. Such grant has never been in the past.

As the president of NANTMP, what is your vision for the practice in 2015?

Traditional medicine is gradually becoming the household medicine everybody is embracing because it is less hazardous, compared to artificially synthesised drugs. Intellectuals, especially, are shifting to traditional medicines, particularly those that are NAFDAC certified and are decently packaged.

Years back, the elite rejected herbal medicines due to unprofessional packaging. Now that the industry is advancing in knowledge, with fascinating packs for local drugs, majority of the elite now prefer alternative medicines to conventional drugs. With this development, I can confidently say that traditional medicines will dominate the market in 2015, with revolutionised packaging.

Badagry Local Government Council has just announced plans to establish a health centre. Local Purchase Orders are being issued for the supply of goods and services for the new facility. An LPO is sent to Ojo & Sons, wholesale distributors in Ibadan, for the provision of anti-malaria drugs. The terms are that payment will be made on supply of goods with a crossed cheque in favour of the distributor. Unknown to the council, the letter is never delivered, due to an error in the postal office.

Another LPO for the same order is sent to Francis Pharmaceuticals, a Lagos-based distributor. Francis replies immediately, accepting the order, with a request that payment be made with an open cheque to enable them recover their expenses after the drugs have been supplied.

The Local Government chairman sends an LPO, for the same order, to a neighbourhood pharmacy the council has been dealing with. He attaches a personal note saying, “Femi, if you cannot deliver these drugs, please let me know.” Femi receives the message and decides to supply the drugs the following week.

By the end of that week, a letter is received from Ojo & Sons. Apparently, they have heard about the establishment of the health centre and sent a Sales Quotation for anti-malaria drugs at the approved price. They promise to be able to deliver by Monday.

On that fateful Monday, all three distributors arrive at the health centre with the required drugs. Each of them has been sent an LPO. All of them have made investments in the purchase of anti-malaria drugs and need to recover their expenses. Now, which of these distributors has a valid contract with Badagry Local Government?

A contract has been defined as an agreement between two parties which is enforceable. For a contract to be valid,there must have been an offer by one party and then an acceptance by the other. Acceptance must be a final and unqualified expression of agreement.

The situation above involves the following legal issues:

1. The effect of a counter-offer in a transaction.

2. The validity of a cross-offer in securing a contract.

3. The communication of acceptance for a valid contract.

The rules guiding the acceptance of offers were clearly defined by Justice Tobi in the case of Orient Bank (Nig.) Plc. v. Bilante International. In the words of the learned judge, “An acceptance of an offer is the reciprocal act or action of the offeree to the offer in which he indicates his agreement to the terms of the offer as conveyed to him by the offeror… It is the element of acceptance that underscores the bilateral nature of a contract.”

Clearly then, for an acceptance to be valid, there must be a notification of assent to the terms of offer by documentation, by words or by conduct. Any amendment of the terms will constitute a counter-offer which cancels the original offer.

With Badagry Local Government, Francis Pharmaceuticals purported to accept the offer with a request for a variation in payment system. Subsequently, that qualified acceptance resulted in a new offer being presented. In the case of Hyde v. Wrench, where a party sought to vary the terms of transaction, it was declared that the party had rejected the original offer and was in effect making a counter-offer. Consequently,there was no obligation whatsoever between the parties.

On the part of Ojo & Sons, a company made an offer to supply goods, totally unaware of the fact that an LPO had already been sent to them for the supply of the same goods. When two offers, identical in terms, are sent by two parties to each other, the resultant effect is a cross-offer. However, for there to be a contract, there must be an acceptance in response to a specific offer. In essence, there will be a consensus ad idem (a meeting of minds). In the classic case of cross-offers, Tinn v. Hofman, it was held that in such a situation, there were merely “two simultaneous offers”. There was no contract.

Finally, the neighbourhood pharmacy managed by Femi received the LPO and fully intended to fulfil the terms of the offer. It is noteworthy that a personal relationship existed between the pharmacist and the chairman of the local government. Furthermore, the note sent by the chairman requested for a notification in the event that the goods would not be deliverable. This seems to have rendered unnecessary the need to communicate acceptance, in view of the fact that the drugs would be supplied.Nevertheless, the rules of acceptance require a definite notification to the offering party. In Felthouse v. Bindly, a man had agreed to sell his horse to his uncle but failed to communicate his intention. The court held that there was no valid acceptance for the sale.

In conclusion, it is apparent that none of the distributors had a valid contract. Not Francis, on the basis of his counter-offer. Not Ojo, on account of a cross-offer. Not even Femi, for the reason of non-communication.

Acceptance of contracts must involve the external manifestation of an internal agreement with a specific proposal. As Justice Achike puts it, “if acceptance were to be based on silence or mental assent, then its ascertainment is bound to be illusory and at best, a guesswork, unless the judge was a superhuman who would be bound to unfold the innermost recesses of the heart of the party making the mental assent.”

Principles and cases are drawn from Sagay: Nigerian Law of Contract

(By R. Sharp)

Circulatory problems do not begin in a day. In other words, you could call the heart a very patient organ, which can take years of abuse and when it cannot take it anymore, breaks out with symptoms.

At the outset, we need to remember that poor circulation is an outcome of certain lifestyle choices which we make which are detrimental to our health. Coupled with these are factors like imbalanced diet and lack of physical exercise. All these factors lead to fatty deposits on the arterial walls, which, when hardened, are called plaques. These plaques then block or create obstructions to the smooth passage of blood to and from the heart.

Plaques take a long time to be formed; that is the reason, we find circulatory problems affecting the elderly more often than they affect children. Our food habits also add to an unhealthy build-up of cholesterol which may increase the viscosity of the blood, which again creates anomaly in the smooth flow through arteries and veins.

Since the circulatory system covers our entire body, the problems can also be manifested in numerous ways. For instance:

The brain – Our brain receives 20 per cent of the blood circulated in our body. With a drop in the flow, our brain functions sub-optimally, resulting in feeling lethargic, loss of memory, lack of mental clarity, etc. Frequent unexplained headaches and sudden attacks of dizziness are also seen as symptoms of poor blood circulation to the brain.

The heart – When poor blood circulation affects the heart, the symptoms would be chest pain, high blood pressure and rise in the level of cholesterol. Difficulty in performing any common task, like climbing stairs; walking a stretch could make you very tired and breathless.

The liver – When you suffer from lack of appetite or experience sudden weight loss and your skin looks lustre-less, it is quite possible that your liver is getting ‘sluggish’ and these are the early symptoms of poor blood circulation to the liver.

The kidneys – This organ plays an important role in regulating and monitoring our blood pressure other than eliminating the waste and excess water from our bodies. When poor blood circulation affects the kidneys, we notice swelling of hands, feet and ankles, rise in blood pressure, altered heart rate and we feel tired all the time.

The limbs – Poor blood circulation can have serious impact on our arms and legs. We can experience sudden numbness of our hands, feet and fingers or suffer painful leg cramps. Symptoms of serious blood circulation problems can be varicose veins or a condition called cyanosis – which is when part of our skin turns blue or black due to lack of adequate oxygen to the concerned tissues.

Sex drive – Poor blood circulation can affect our reproductive organs as well. The symptoms are lack of sex drive and fatigue. Symptoms would also include lack of vitality. Serious blood circulation problems could also make one impotent.

Source:www.healthguidance.org

Emeritus professor of Chemistry, Joseph I. Okogun, has said that for Nigeria’s indigenous herbals to be fully harnessed for the improvement of health care delivery, production of drugs from active principles is no longer an option but a necessity.

Okogun, who spoke extensively during the public lecture organised by the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), held at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, on 28 January, 2015, called on all scientists, including biologists, chemists, pharmacologists and clinicians in the country to form a formidable team for the formulation of drugs from active principles on a large scale.
Speaking on the topic, “Drug Production Efforts in Nigeria 2: Anti-Cancer Remedies Emerge through Herbs, Chemistry and Biology”, the erudite don asserted that a smooth collaboration could enhance the development of some natural drugs as well as their formulation into prescribed drugs, with the use of the country’s plant extracts.
Okogu chided Nigerian scientists for their negative behaviour towards the efforts of herbal practitioners in the country, noting that such actions would not lead to the development of the health care sector.
He said it was high time researchers supported traditional practice by assisting in standardising the practice through clinical trials and other activities that would promote indigenous plants resources.
Analysing the manufacturing capabilities of the country, the renowned scholar said the country had, among other things, availability of human resources; presence of active principle isolation in over 99 per cent purity; extensive documentation by FDA and NAFDAC; as well as intellectual property protection and maintenance, which make the formulation of local herbal drugs a huge possibility.
He explained further that local manufacturers would be doing themselves and the nation a great disservice, if they persist in importing active principles, rather than utilising local medicinal plants, which can play better roles in the body chemistry of the populace.
Citing the example of a medicinal plant in Nigeria called gedunin, as published in Research Gate with the title: “An unprecedented gedunin rearrangement reaction converts a methyl group into the methylene group of a cyclopropyl ring”, he said the plant has several medicinal and commercial values, as indicated by the publication.
“Some of the activities of gedunin, when tested in the laboratory showed the following medicinal activities: anti-ovarian cancer, anti-colon cancer, anti-malaria, anti-allergy, and insecticides”, he listed.
In his own remarks at the event, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, urged the federal government to give science the priority it deserves in the country. He said there was need to fund and develop drug researches, to reduce the burden of diseases and save many Nigerians.
“With the significant changes taking place in the country, science has not fared well, even with all the steps taken,” he observed. “The federal government should invest in basic science and drug researches to support the growth of the drug industry and other manufacturing industries. This initiative will encourage indigenous drug makers to take bold, strategic steps in local drug production and, in effect, spur the growth of the industry in Nigeria,”
President of the National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP) Chief Omon Oleabhiele, also contributed by making a comparison between China and Nigeria, stating that if the Chinese could succeed on their native medicine of Acupuncture, which was initially kicked against by the World Health Organisation, then Nigerian scientists were inexcusable for not harnessing their local herbs for the development of drugs for their citizens.
He further mentioned that if government could allow traditional doctors to record the experiences of patients who were successfully treated with native herbs and became well, it would serve as a good platform for clinical trials, a development that would accord local traditional medicines global recognition.