The Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) has thrown its weight behind addressing issues of gender inequities and inclusion in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education, noting them as some of the focal points of the group in 2023.
The association also highlighted improvement of visibility, expansion of collaboration with relevant stakeholders, expansion in revenue generation efforts, establishment of a chapter structure for NAPPSA in the Americas, and Improving the quality of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, as other objectives of the group in the coming year.
NAPPSA President, Dr Teresa Pounds, revealed this in her address at the just concluded 16th Annual Scientific Conference of the association, held at the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel, Tampa, Florida, USA.
She explained how the association launched the Diaspora Professional Health Care Initiative (DPHI) in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health's Nigeria Diaspora Strategic Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer Programme.
She said DPHI is a collaborative partnership between NAPPSA, NANNNA and ANPA with the first phase, already in progress, is a series of interdisciplinary lectures to prepare members of NAPPSA, NANNNA, and ANPA to train doctors, nurses, and pharmacists in topics such as digital health, inpatient and outpatient services, value-based healthcare delivery models, nutrition assessment, nutrition support in paediatric and adult populations, and COVID-19 therapeutics.
“The second phase will involve hands-on knowledge transfer to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists at three hospitals in Nigeria: National Hospital, Abuja, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. This phase is scheduled to begin in Fall 2022 and enhance patient care in Nigeria while demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary cooperation”, she stated.
Also speaking at the conference, the Nigerian First Lady, (Dr) Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, appreciated the giant stride of NAPPSA in advancing the course of healthcare in Nigeria, noting that the association shares a similar feature with her Foundation “Future Assured”, which is promotion of healthcare in Nigeria.
She expressed her delight in the theme of the conference “Drug Discovery, Development and Equitable Healthcare Delivery in a Changing Global Environment”, which is hinged on healthcare delivery in Nigeria, as she revealed her desire to contribute to improving healthcare domain and availability of medicines to all Nigerians.
She said: “As the First Lady, I recently initiated the Conference on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM), themed, “Nigerian Indigenous Medicinal Plants – Health Benefits and Economic Potentials”. It recognizes and encourages the use of our local medicinal plants of which we have over 10,000 species with less than 20% utilized.
“During the visit of Dr Pounds, we discussed my Foundation, the ‘Future Assured' initiative, which is to advance the health and well-being of women and children through community mobilization and health promotion.
“Incidentally the ‘Future Assured Initiative and NAPPSA's 2022 Theme for the conference all seem to be pointing at the same thing – promotion of healthcare in Nigeria. This will reduce medical tourism”.
The conference was graced by prominent Nigerian pharmacists including: Hon. Bamidele Obaitan, commissioner for arts, culture and tourism and diaspora affairs, Edo State; President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Prof. Cyril Usifoh; Chairman, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Pharm. Ahmed T. Mora; Managing Director, Pharmanews Ltd., Pharm. (Sir) Ifeanyi Atueyi, and others.
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