-As Society Announces Lagos Pharmacy Week
Following the provision of the Nigerian Constitution which clearly stipulates the role of government in maintaining the security of lives and property as stated in Chapter two, Section 14, Subsection (2(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos Chapter, has called on the government to live up to its responsibility by wading into the prolonged-anomalies in the implementation of the health insurance scheme.
The society which acknowledged the place of the health insurance scheme in the nation, however noted that health insurance thrives best when the various cadres of providers are streamlined along the levels of the primary, secondary and tertiary providers. It was however observed that things went wrong at the implementation stage from the onset, as the right procedures were outlined initially.
Addressing a press conference towards the forthcoming Pharmacy Week in Lagos, which takes off on Monday 14 August 2017, and runs through the week with different activities, the Lagos State PSN Chairman, Pharm. Bolanle Adeniran said government needs to intervene in healthcare delivery as a matter of urgency, before a total collapse of the system.
Adeniran who decried the global capitation payment system for the health insurance, said it is not favourable to all practitioners, as it directs funds to be paid into the coffers of a primary care provider, who is a medical doctor, while he is expected to credit other providers. Having observed this payment system for some years, she said:”This arrangement does not protect the secondary and tertiary providers, as they are relegated to contend with individuals. The result is most practitioners in pharmacy, laboratory science, physiotherapy, radiography and others do not offer services in health insurance because of these compromises”.
While appreciating the Lagos State government for the inclusion of community pharmacists into the State health scheme, based on the guidelines for the registration from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Adeniran pointed out why the concept of fee for services is the best for the state social health scheme to embrace.
She highlighted the reasons why the concept of global capitation is not acceptable to pharmacists as follows: “It gives undue advantage to the primary care provider, who may divert the resources at his disposal to other ventures; it encourages the primary provider to keep and dispense the prescriptions rather than sending it out to the nearest pharmacy; it encourages the prescriber to prescribe drugs that are available in his clinic/hospital and cheaper alternatives rather than drugs that the patient actually needs.
“Experience has shown that it is difficult to collect money for services rendered as at when due from individuals. As a result of the tendency to maximise profits, checks and balances may be eroded, especially in medication errors”.
On the forthcoming 2017 Pharmacy Week, with the theme: “National Development: The role of pharmaceutical sector”, she noted that the technical arms of the society will kick-start activities for the week.
The week commences with the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) taking the campaign against the menace of drug abuse and drug misuse to the Palace of the Ayagburen of Ikorodu on Monday; while the Association of Lady Pharmacists (ALPs) goes to, Ijana-Ipaja park, with the message; the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria, will on Wednesday be at Oju-Ina, Mushin, preaching the same gospel; and the grand finale will be at the official opening ceremony/seminar for the Pharmacy Week, to hold at the M2 Arena, Event Centre, along Oworonsoki Expressway, Ogudu-Ojota
