By CHARLES IWUOHA

A total of 348 pharmacy outlets have been sealed off in Ebonyi State by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) for various offences.

PCN Registrar, Pharmacist N.A.E Mohammed, disclosed this at a news conference in Abakiliki.

Represented by Pharmacist (Mrs) Anthonia Aruya, Director, Inspection and Monitoring, Mohammed explained that the Federal Government set up a Committee on Pharmaceutical Sector Reform and approved the “National Drug Distribution Guideline”. Consequently, a team was dispatched to Ebonyi State for inspection, he said.

He listed some local government areas in the state visited by the team, which has been in Ebonyi since Monday, November 30, to include Ebonyi, Ikwo, Ivo, Izzi and Afikpo.

“At the end, the exercise,” he said, “a total of five hundred and fifty- six (556) premises were visited comprising of forty-Nine (49) pharmacies and five hundred and seven (507) patent medicine shop

“A total of three hundred and forty-eight (348) premises were sealed comprising of three (3) pharmacies and three hundred and forty-five (345) patent medicine shops.

“Five (5) premises were issued compliance directives for issue ranging from sale and dispensing of ethical/prescription drugs without the supervision of a pharmacist, unhygienic environment, and poor documentation among others, in the interest of public safety.”

The PCN Registrar maintained that all pharmaceutical outlets or premises where drugs are manufactured, warehoused, distributed, sold or dispensed in the state must be registered and licensed by the council.

“Ethical or prescription medicines are to be sold under the supervision of a pharmacist, while controlled by medicines are to be handled by pharmacists exclusively,” he said.

The council warned that anyone that operates outside the rules is operating in violation of the law and shall be prosecuted accordingly.