As a means of fulfilling his promise to uplift the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) to an enviable height of professionalism and digitalisation of the system, the PSN President, Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, made good his pledge, at the triune event of the PSN, which unveiled the PSN Vision 2050 Strategy Document; PharmiT- Online platform for National Drug Distribution based on National Drug Distribution Guidelines; and launching of PSNPay – Online Platform for capitation and states dues.
The epoch-making occasion, held on 23 October, 2018, at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, had in attendance leaders of pharmaceutical groups in Nigeria, representatives of all technical groups of the Society, and Chams Plc staff members. They include: PSN President, Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai; Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAPharm; Pharm. Lekan Asuni, chairman of PharmiT online platform committee; Pharm. Lere Baale, chairman of PSN Vision 2050 Strategy Document committee.
Others were: Pharm. Ibrahim Babashi, PCN representative; Immediate Past President of PSN, Pharm. Olumide Akintayo; ACPN National Chairman, Pharm. Samuel O. Adekola; AHAPN National Chairman, Pharm. Kingsley Amibor, BOF representative, Pharm. Rosemary Nikoro; Oluyole 2018 Conference Planning Committee Chairman, Pharm. Onyeka Onyeibor; Pharmanews Publisher, Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi; Alpha Pharmacy Managing Director, Sir Ike Onyechi; PSN National Secretary, Pharm. Emeka Duru; Dr Okey Akpa, PMGMAN chairman; Group Managing Director, Chams Pls, Mr Femi Williams, and several other leaders in the pharmaceutical industry.
Appreciating the huge sacrifices made by all members of the committees constituted to achieve the projects being unveiled, Pharm. Yakasai explained the motive behind the PSN Vision 2050 Strategy Document, noting that his administration discovered a need to develop a long term vision for the transformation of the Society, thus, they set up a committee, led by a very resourceful pharmacist, in the person of Pharm. Lere Baale.
The optimistic PSN President however stated that the launching of the strategy document is just the beginning of the journey, but the actualisation of the dream really lies in the implementation of the Vision 2050 Strategy Document, “which will go a long way in complimenting and supporting the profession, be it in education, training, practice, PSN structure and pharmaceutical sector in general”.
He further commented on the PharmiT Online Platform, as a Pharma Industry IT solution facilitated by the PSN under his leadership to compliment the implementation of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG). Pharm. Yakasai, who noted the global Information Communication Technology revolution, explained that the Society must not be left out of movement, as the platform will serve as a central repository and interface for exchange of information for practitioners, the practice, and regulators.
And on the third agenda for the day, which was the introduction of the PSNPay Online Payment Platform, he said that PSN is transforming the existing manual process of PSN annual capitation and that of technical and interest groups of the PSN dues, for both states and national, to a digitalize payment platform powered by Chams switch.
Pharm. Yakasai explained the importance of the PSNPay, as an end-to-end automated payment/collection platform, that will ultimately improve operational efficiency of PSN and its technical and interest groups.
The chairman of the occasion, Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi, while addressing the participants at the event, remarked that with the plethora of achievements made by PSN at 91 years, it is obvious that pharmacy is not doing badly.
He therefore charged pharmacists saying “We tend to underestimate ourselves. I urge you as pharmacists to be bold-chested, because whatever a pharmacist does, he does well .We need to continually make ourselves available, dependable, and responsible as pharmacists”.
Pharm. Lekan Asuni, chairman of the PharmiT Platform explained to the audience what to expect from the platform, which he described as having three parental bodies- PSN, PCN, and NAFDAC.
He said the platform will provide access to needed information on the frontend, while the backend will be managed by Chams Plc. Also, he noted that mobile apps will be available for ordering of goods and pharmacists clearance, to allow them make payment.
The PharmiT platform chairman also disclosed that his team members made consultation across board in the profession, to engage NSCIP Abuja, APIN, PMGMAN,NAFDAC,PSN,Education committees, and others, to have a robust PharmiT platform.
On his own part, the Group Managing Director, Chams Pls, Mr Femi Williams, listed some of the benefits of the platform to include: Collaboration, trust, ease of discovery, safety, ease of doing business, quality assurance, and others.
 to an enviable height of professionalism and digitalisation of the system, the PSN President, Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, made good his pledge, at the triune event of the PSN, which unveiled the PSN Vision 2050){kind=link}