The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) has raised concerns about pharmaceutical practice in Cross River State after inspections across 10 local government areas found that 48.3 per cent of medicine outlets were operating illegally.
The Council said it sealed 505 pharmaceutical premises for regulatory violations, describing the findings as a major threat to public health and the integrity of the medicine supply chain.
Disclosing this at a news conference on Friday in Calabar, PCN’s Director of Enforcement, Suleiman Chiroma, said the findings were the outcome of a four-day enforcement exercise in Cross River.
Mr Chiroma said the operation, conducted under the directive of the Registrar of PCN, Ibrahim Ahmed, covered Bekwara, Yakurr, Obubra, Ikom, Yala, Ogoja, Akamkpa, Odukpani, Calabar Municipal and Calabar South local government areas.
He said inspectors visited 602 premises, comprising 94 pharmacies, 217 Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendor (PPMV) stores and 291 illegal medicine outlets.
