Minna — The Muslim Pharmacists Association of Nigeria has resolved to remove alcohol from the formulation of drugs, says its national president, Alhaji Haruna Aliyu.
The decision which was taken yesterday, according to Alhaji Aliyu is in line with Islamic tenets to steer clear of any substance that contains alcohol, saying it was time Muslims had alcohol free drugs.
"Religiously, Muslims are not to take alcohol and scientifically, in some of our drugs today alcohol is used occasionally for their formulation. So in keeping with the teachings of our religion, a scientific committee has been put in place to find a substitute for intoxicants used for drugs", he said.
Speaking on the frequent abuse of cough syrup by youths, the president of the association said it was one of the problems that needed to be tackled, adding that plans were underway to remove the intoxicant so that further abuse could be stopped.
"The presence of codeine in cough syrup has made youths to patronize it as intoxicants. We are going to use other cough suppressant that could be used to stop the abuse of cough syrup," he said.
Aliyu added that the association had noticed that some patients in Nigerian hospitals can't afford to pay for their drugs, so in an effort to help such people, an endowment fund had been established.
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I am slowly becoming alarmed at pronouncements by various muslim groups,persons,and organisations on the structure,function ,and direction of Nigeria.Like the article above,they do not seem to acknowledge that Nigeria is not a muslim country and not everybody is a muslim, or that they need to consult other people.How would muslims feel if a christian group,politician ,or organisation were to make the same type of announcements without first talking to muslims.Medicine is not a function of religion and the most important consideration should be efficacy and effectiveness and not the contents violating islamic tenets.What if non muslims want the medicines as it is or if the substitutes that muslims propose is not acceptable to christians.What happens then.It is just this type of logic that is making Nigeria a country of sick people,sick with diseases that have been eradicated in even the poorest countries in Africa.A word for the wise.