The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has enjoined foreign pharmacy graduates to serve as examples for the achievement of excellence in the provision of quality pharmaceutical services for sustainable health care delivery in Nigeria.
The registrar of the council, Pharmacist Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, made the call during the induction ceremony of 46 participants of the second cycle of the 2024 foreign pharmacy graduate orientation programme (FPGOP) at the council's headquarters in Abuja.
He said they should maintain high ethical conduct and leadership standards set forth by PCN, adding that the council frowns at professional misconduct in its entirety.
The registrar said 80 foreign pharmacy graduates appeared for screening for the orientation programme but that 30 were screened out while 50 sat for the examination and passed.
He said the foreign pharmacy graduate orientation programme was organised primarily with the objective to ensure that the graduands are acquainted with the realities of practice in the tropics with emphasis on Nigeria.
Pharmacist Ahmed said pharmacy is a noble profession that guarantees opportunities for new graduates to have great prospects of practising in different fields such as industries, communities, hospitals, administration, research, academia and in other human endeavours, such as information technology, journalism, publishing and governance.
The Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID), Dr Obi Adigwe, said honesty is a key word in pharmacy and that graduands need a lot of hard work, and to also add value wherever they may be.
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While enumerating the benefits of working in the country instead of embarking on the 'japa syndrome', Pharmacist Adigwe said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the African medicine agency will soon take off and will offer opportunities for the inductees as well as others that will come up in the pharma and health sector of the country in the next 24 to 28 months.
The incoming chair of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) FCT Chapter, Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu, said at a time when the nation faces challenges such as brain drain, inadequate medical equipment and underfunding of the health sector, the foreign pharmacy graduates' decision to practice in Nigeria resonates deeply with the ideals of service and commitment to the people.
The representative of the inductees, Pharm. Isaiah Ejakpovi, said the programme afforded them the opportunity to learn pharmacy laws, code of ethics and treatment regimens for tropical diseases in Nigeria, and also provided an opportunity for national integration.
