The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged the Federal Government to introduce a nationwide ‘Pharmacy First’ protocol to allow neighborhood pharmacies to establish suspected Ebola circumstances early and strengthen illness surveillance throughout the nation’s 774 native authorities areas.
The affiliation stated integrating neighborhood pharmacists into Nigeria’s nationwide illness surveillance system would enhance early detection of infectious ailments, facilitate well timed referrals and scale back strain on secondary and tertiary healthcare services.
In a place assertion signed by its National Chairman, Ezeh Ambrose, ACPN referred to as on federal and state governments to formally recognise neighborhood pharmacies as companions in epidemic preparedness and first healthcare supply.
It stated the proposed protocol would convey early symptom recognition and referral companies nearer to communities, significantly these with restricted entry to traditional healthcare services.
“We consider it necessary to sensitise and mobilise the federal government to approve specific investment plans to leverage the Pharmacy First Initiative as a front-line Ebola detection protocol, which stands as one of the best mechanisms to catalyse Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria,” the assertion learn.
Under the proposed initiative, neighborhood pharmacists would tackle broader public well being duties past dishing out medicines. These would come with recognising signs of infectious ailments, offering well being schooling, conducting acceptable fundamental screening and referring suspected circumstances to designated well being services.
According to the affiliation, structured referral pathways would assist make sure that folks presenting with signs suggestive of Ebola obtain immediate medical evaluation and testing. The system may additionally assist contact tracing and scale back the chance of publicity in crowded hospital settings.
“At the centre of strategising for epidemic response and Universal Health Coverage, governments at all levels must structure community pharmacies to provide first-line Ebola screening and Primary Health Care services through better access to essential drugs and management of uncomplicated diseases, which ultimately reduces the burden of services on secondary and tertiary health facilities,” it acknowledged.
ACPN additionally urged neighborhood pharmacists to enhance operational requirements, modernise their practices and improve their services to satisfy the calls for of expanded public well being duties.
“In view of changing times, Community Pharmacists must respond accordingly to explore investment opportunities with free funds to achieve the goals of Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) in the realistic interest of patients,” the assertion added.
The affiliation, nonetheless, recognized gaps in coverage management, digital integration, proof technology, high quality enchancment and collaboration amongst healthcare professionals as obstacles to efficient epidemic preparedness and response.
To deal with these challenges, it proposed a five-point reform framework specializing in a unified imaginative and prescient for epidemic preparedness, improved scientific high quality and public belief, digital integration into routine pharmacy observe, stronger collaboration with major healthcare centres and partnerships with medical insurance suppliers.
It additionally referred to as for standardised reporting programs that might allow neighborhood pharmacies to transmit related surveillance knowledge to nationwide well being databases, giving public well being authorities well timed info to watch illness patterns and establish potential outbreaks.
Citing worldwide expertise, ACPN stated neighborhood pharmacy networks had helped keep entry to important healthcare companies and assist frontline scientific actions throughout public well being emergencies. It referenced the United Kingdom for example of a rustic the place neighborhood pharmacies had helped maintain entry to care throughout disruptions to traditional medical companies.
Ezeh stated integrating neighborhood pharmacies into Nigeria’s major healthcare system would enhance entry to important companies and strengthen the nation’s capability to answer public well being emergencies.
He warned that delays in establishing efficient grassroots surveillance mechanisms may undermine outbreak response efforts and expose healthcare staff, sufferers and the broader inhabitants to avoidable dangers.
“We cannot afford to repeat past missteps where delayed grassroots surveillance allowed outbreaks to spiral out of control. If the Federal Government fails to integrate community pharmacies into this primary protocol, our major hospitals will inevitably become ground zero for cross-infection, overwhelmed before an outbreak is even fully mapped. Leaving community pharmacies out of the first line of defence is not just a missed opportunity; it is an unacceptable hazard to national health security,” he stated.
The ACPN chairman referred to as on President Bola Tinubu to subject an govt directive to facilitate the rapid implementation of the proposed protocol, arguing that the present neighborhood pharmacy community may assist a fast rollout.
“Every day of delay places an unnecessary burden on our tertiary hospitals and leaves millions of Nigerians without accessible early detection. Community pharmacies are already fully staffed, equipped, and embedded across all 774 Local Government Areas. We require zero infrastructure expenditure from the government to deploy this immediately. We urge President Bola Tinubu to issue the enabling policy directive today, and our national network will activate the ‘Pharmacy First’ screening protocol within 48 hours,” Ezeh stated.
The affiliation additionally urged the Tinubu administration and the Federal Ministry of Health to determine a joint job pressure to develop and formalise the framework, together with scientific tips, referral procedures, illness surveillance protocols and coordination mechanisms for neighborhood pharmacists.
It maintained that with acceptable authorities assist, skilled requirements and integration into the nationwide surveillance system, neighborhood pharmacies may function an vital hyperlink between communities and Nigeria’s wider epidemic response community.
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