Open AccessEvaluation of pharmacy practice regulations in Nigeria: The pharmaceutical inspectors’ perspective
Author(s) -
Yejide Olukemi Oseni
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
tropical journal of pharmaceutical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.209
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1596-5996
pISSN - 1596-9827
DOI - 10.4314/tjpr.v18i6.29
Subject(s) - pharmacy , mandate , publicity , legislature , enforcement , pharmacy practice , law , order (exchange) , medicine , public relations , business , political science , finance
Purpose: To evaluate pharmacy practice laws and regulations in Nigeria and recommend ways to overcome the challenges facing its implementation.
Methods: Semi-structured questionnaire of 19 questions was administered to pharmaceutical inspectors of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) to assess pharmacy practice laws and regulations in terms of its mandate, the challenges in implementation and recommendations for amendment for legislative attention. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics.
Results: Respondents (87.5%) were not satisfied with the existing laws and regulations and 56.3% agreed that they were inadequate to regulate the practice of pharmacy profession in Nigeria. Some respondents (37.5%) agreed that the laws and regulations were not specific on many issues that require regulation and enforcement while all of them (100%) agreed that the laws did not adequately capture offences and penalties for offenders. Half of the respondents (50%) were of the opinion that the name of the regulatory body poses a limitation to the regulation of its sub-cadre while 43.8% agreed that consistent court injunctions and litigation that occurred had hampered regulation of pharmacy practice as a whole.
Conclusion: The existing laws and regulations are inadequate to regulate the current pharmacy practice in Nigeria. Need for speedy review in order to meet up with the current reality in practice, wide publicity, increase manpower, adequate funding and strong legal backing of PCN activities were recommended.