By CHIMEZIE ANASO

The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has commended Gov. Chukwuma Soludo for approving the Coordinates Wholesale Centre (CWC) for medicines in Anambra.

Babashehu Ahmed, the Registrar of PCN who made the commendation at a news conference in Awka on Saturday, called on stakeholders to key into the project and ensure that it takes off in earnest.

Ahmed said the PCN was in Anambra as part of the tour to follow up on CWCs across the states in the federation and also experience the challenges impeding the take-off.

He said it was commendable that Soludo approved the site for the relocation of the Bridgehead drugs market to Oba, in Idemili South Local Government Area, with his first year in office but regretted that a year after the ground-breaking ceremony, stakeholders were yet to commence development of the area.

“Government has been very magnanimous for approving this location. We have met with stakeholders, and we have seen what the issues are; we will further engage with the state government with a view to uprooting the obstacle against the effective take-off.

“We are here to encourage the stakeholders and also support investors and government on this project,” he said.

Ahmed said if the CWC became operational, there would be sanity in drugs distribution system as well as reduced access to controlled medicine by unauthorised persons.

He said the menace of drug abuse would be greatly addressed as against the prevailing open drug market system.

He said under the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, CWC was a wholly private sector-driven project and not of government but assured that the PCN would interface with government to see the possible ways they could support stakeholders. (NAN)