Pharm. (Dr) Charles Ronari Owaba, is the immediate past chairman of PSN Bayelsa State Chapter. He has also served the profession in other capacities as the immediate past secretary of PSN National Investigating Committee and currently a member of the PSN National Publicity Committee. As an aspirant for the position of the PSN National Publicity Secretary, in this engaging interview with Temitope Obayendo, he shares strategies he will deploy to project PPSN’s image as well as advance pharmacists’ interests among policy makers and in the healthcare community. Let’s dive into the conversation:
Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am Pharm. (Dr) Charles Ronari Owaba, the immediate past chairman of PSN Bayelsa State, immediate past secretary of PSN National Investigating Committee and currently a member of the PSN National Publicity Committee.
How do you plan to enhance the visibility and public image of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, both within the healthcare sector and to the general public?
I will leverage active engagement and coordination of several WHO approved disease awareness days e.g World malaria, hypertension, mental health, hand washing, drug abuse days etc. Additionally, through sponsored appearances on radio and television programmes, the visibility of PSN will be enhanced.
Serious mobilisation through digital media will be done to achieve this by encouraging formation of a vibrant Publicity Committee with members drawn from all state branches. The summary of all this is what I’ve termed Media Blitz in my agenda. I intend to educate managers of media houses how they would be contributing to improving the health indices of Nigeria through dissemination of accurate health information by giving pharmacists slots to discuss critical health issues in the various radio and TV stations, not forgetting the print media.
Given the increasing importance of digital media, what strategies would you employ to improve PSN’s online presence and engagement with members and stakeholders across Nigeria?
The PSN will put into active use, the available social media handles and keep members and stakeholders engaged. Also, I intend to adopt and implement standard media reportage of major PSN activities and regularly upload on the Facebook page. That way, anyone can get important information on current happenings by just visiting the page.
In your view, what role does the PSN Publicity Secretary play in advocacy, particularly in influencing health policies and representing the interests of pharmacists?
The National Publicity Secretary has an abiding duty to be proactive with intelligence gathering of information, to be well abreast of issues in the Pharma space. This guarantees adequate information, guided course and robust engagements in public discourse, health policy advocacy as well as decision making process. Contacts with high profile politicians and top government officials will also help to protect pharmacists interests in policy making. As a person, I have networked with many high profile politicians and I have what it takes to influence policies to favour pharmacists in Nigeria. My track records are there and they speak for me.
Can you provide examples of advocacy campaigns you would lead or support to address critical issues facing pharmacists today?
Collaborative visits to Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors (MDs) of Federal Health Institutions for full implementation of the Consultant Pharmacists Cadre. This will however be led by the PSN President, but I can initiate the idea and push for it. Another major advocacy I’ll push is reviewing the eligibility criteria for appointment of CMDs & MDs of hospitals as well as Vice-Chancellor (VC) position for universities of medical or health sciences in Nigeria. As it stands now, pharmacists cannot be appointed VCs of medical universities and this is discriminatory.
What initiatives would you implement to foster stronger communication and collaboration among various pharmacy sub-sectors under PSN?
I have an innovative initiative termed SPErM. SPErM is Social to Print and Electronic Media and it aims to take to the mainstream media, valid inputs from valuable discussions held on WhatsApp platforms of pharmacists so that many of the important discussions do not end on social media and then get lost over time.
