Pharmacist Kennedy Chukwuemeka Izunwa is the managing director and chief executive officer of Foundation Pharma Group, with interests in pharmaceutical retail, wholesale, distribution, importation, and, most recently, representing multinational partners as sole representatives here in Nigeria. He is an executive member of the Association of Pharmaceutical Importers of Nigeria APIN), where he holds the position of technical director.
Born in Ukpor, Anambra State, on 3 November 1963, Izunwa is a 1986 graduate of Pharmacy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, with particular interest in pharmacognosy and ethno-medicine. An experienced, analytical and result-oriented professional, he has over 30 years of professional experience in hospital, clinical and community practice, as well as in importation, sales and marketing of pharmaceutical and allied products.
Izunwa has contributed immensely to the practice and advancement of the pharmacy profession in Nigeria. He has been a member/chairman of several health committees, including the steering committee on tackling the chaotic drug distribution system in Nigeria, set up by the Federal Ministry of Health; as well as the committee on drug abuse, established and overseen by the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm).
A Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Izunwa has also served the pharmacy profession nationally and internationally in various capacities, including: member, presidential task force on capacity audit of local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies; technical coordinator, Pharmaceutical Coordinated Wholesale Central Projects (CWC); member, 12-man Federal Government delegation to India to understudy drug distribution system. He was also a member of the technical working group of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) workshop on response to drugs and related organised crimes in Nigeria.
Izunwa, an ardent Catholic and Knight of St John, is a passionate promoter of public health. He has provided community health services at various levels, which include educating the public on the use of both indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide treated nets(ITNs) in the malaria prevention programme.
He is a member of many national and international organisations, including the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), African Pharmaceutical Forum (APF), Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA), Nigerian German Business Association (NGBA), and the Lions Club International.
Pharm. Izunwa, fondly called Kaycee, by his friends and close associates, is happily married to Pharm. (Mrs) Kelechi Izunwa, and the marriage is blessed with five lovely children.
