Pharmacist council seals 178 medicine stores in Rivers

The Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, PCN, said it has sealed 178 patent medicine shops in Rivers State. The council also said undisclosed number  of persons were arrested during their enforcement exercise in the state.  Director and head of department in charge of inspections and monitoring of the council, Pharmacist Antonia Aruya said out of the […]

The Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, PCN, said it has sealed 178 patent medicine shops in Rivers State.
The council also said undisclosed number  of persons were arrested during their enforcement exercise in the state.
 Director and head of department in charge of inspections and monitoring of the council, Pharmacist Antonia Aruya said out of the 178 premises sealed, thirty six pharmacies were affected while 142 others were patent medicine shops.
She said: “It was observed that in Rivers State, so many premises commenced operations without following the laid down guidelines , some of the premises commenced operations without following the laid down guidelines, some of the premises are located in environments that are not conducive for the sale of medicines,  many others failed to meet minimum requirements for storage and personnel thus exposing members of the public to the dangers of consuming medicines whose quality, safety and efficacy cannot be guaranteed”
She said another category of offenders are registered premises that failed to renew their premises certificates with the PCN as required by law.