To celebrate the 2021 World Health Day (WHD) which comes up every 7th of April, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), has urged leaders to ensure a conducive living and working conditions for everyone, saying this can be done through the provision of quality pharmaceutical care.
Speaking on the theme of the 2021 WHD: ‘‘Building a fairer, healthier world’’, PSN charged leaders to discourage health inequities and ensure that all citizens are able to access quality healthcare services when and where they need them.
In a statement made available to Pharmanewsonline, the PSN President, Pharm. (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa, explained the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s health, stressing that the pandemic has pushed more people into poverty and this has created a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
“Poverty promotes poor nutrition and increases the propensity and severity of diseases. Hence, the need to address inequity in access to healthcare and to promote structures that guarantee equal access to healthcare irrespective of gender, religion and social class”.
He added that in order to deal with the pandemic, pharmacists have decided to deal with a difficult situation in a very direct or confident way by remaining undaunted throughout this phase of the pandemic.
“We have provided medicines to different categories of our population. We have reached men and women, young and old, rich and poor, influential and dependent, with quality medicines, medical consumables and unquantifiable health information, directly and remotely.
“We are resolved to expand our scope to address the inequities in access to healthcare, especially those bothering on availability, access and effective use of medicines”, he said.
The PSN helmsman also noted the need for pharmacists to render some tasks to their patients when they are transferred from one facility to another and as well transitioned to a different model of care. Care as leading medicines reconciliation services to guarantee medication safety, reducing drug therapy issues and improve treatment and economic outcomes for the patient.
“The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health remains a fundamental human right of every human being without discrimination of race, socio-economic status, and political alignment”.
He added that the PSN will continue to call for actions that will bring people together with their pharmacists and other healthcare workers for healthcare service that is available, accessible, and affordable to all.
Ohuabunwa said the gains of this noble decision range from robust investment in the health of the world’s population to timely interventions toward the eradication of diseases like polio and smallpox and bringing disease outbreaks under control through coordinated and concerted effort.
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