The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) is asking patent medicine vendors to desist from prescribing and selling drugs outside the approved list given to them and also stay away from injecting their customers.

The Registrar of the Council, N.A.E Mohammed, said this in Osogbo, the Osun state capital on Wednesday at the opening of the orientation course for 110 newly licensed patent medicine vendors.

The Registrar, who was represented by the Director, South West Zonal Office of the PCN, Mrs. Yejide Oseni, said the council would not relent in ensuring that the unwholesome practices by medicine vendors is stopped.

He urged the vendors not to violate any of the laws put in place to regulate their practice, saying anyone caught would be dealt with according to the law.

Mohammed also promised that the medicine vendors would be protected from being harassed by some government agencies, but urged them not to go outside the guidelines regulating their practice.

“The PCN has received reports across the country of harassment of vendors by some government agencies.

“The registry has initiated dialogue with some of the government agencies with the aim of ensuring that patent and proprietary medicine vendor licence holders are protected from every form of harassment from any agency provided they abide by the list, display their licence

and signpost.”

The Director, Pharmaceutical Services at the Osun State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Adepeju Ojo, advised the vendors to always get their drugs from licenced pharmaceutical outlets.

Ojo said they would be able to assist in tracing the source of such drugs in case they are found to be substandard or expired.

She urged them to be law abiding and to renew their licence every year while also appealing to them against selling drugs outside their lists.

Ojo said that any of them caught stands the chance of having their licences revoked.

“Don’t prescribe drugs to anybody. Don’t inject them, don’t even treat wound. You have not been trained to do these. If you run foul of the law, your shops will be sealed.

“It is a criminal, offence for you to break the Federal Government’s seal. If your shop is sealed come to the the PCN office and they will tell you what to do, if you break the seal, you may be prosecuted.” (Channels TV)

•Photo shows Health Minister Isaac Adewole.

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