Government at various levels have been admonished on the need to bring on board community pharmacies for remote and community oversight on patients on self-isolation towards providing them with supplements that could aid their immune system to fight COVID-19.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) gave the admonition on Sunday, when the newly elected chairman of the body, Rasheed Ayinde, paid an unscheduled visit to the chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, Ademola Babalola, on Sunday.
According to him, the mapping of community pharmacies for the exercise was very crucial now, adding that there was a need for the government to map and bring them on board.
He noted that Nigeria was currently at community transmission of COVID-19, describing it as a peak in the spread of the virus.
Ayinde noted that the stage has culminated into patients engaging in the differential diagnosis, which has made the demand for anti-malaria drugs to go up astronomically.
He, however, lauded achievements and leadership style of the PSN under Mr. Abiodun Ajibade, for lifting the image of the association, while he said: “Currently, the sale of anti-malaria have soared with most patients presenting with fever, cough, body pains, lack of appetite, poor sleep and the rest of them.”
“Doing a differential diagnosis, it is quite possible that many of these patients are incubating Coronavirus. With the cluster of families around the community pharmacy workforce, a new dimension to the spread of Coronavirus is revealed.”
“The need to enforce the use of facemasks and other precautionary measures still remain the hallmark to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Most patients are not complying since the government is also not putting measures in place to enhance adherence.”
“For us to tame the community spread of COVID-19, the government must put in a lot of attention on the safety of pharmacists in the community, provide enabling environment for their services without undue taxation as being currently done, provides a working relationship with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Ministry of Health.”
“The need to map community pharmacies and bring them on board for remote and community oversight on patients on self-isolation providing them supplements that could aid their immune system to fight COVID-19 is very crucial now.”
“Pharmacists are frontline healthcare practitioners and should be recognized of want to have holistic combat against COVID-19,” he stressed.
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