No Law Prohibits Lab Facilities as Part Of Pharmacy, Says ACPN

Pharmacists under the aegis of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) have said that there is no law in the country that prohibits laboratory facilities as part of in-house pharmacy.Reacting to a recent statement credited to President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Mr. Casmir Ifeanyi, where he alleged that pharmacies were conducting medical tests in their facilities, and equated them to provision shops; ACPN National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh, and National Secretary, Omokhafe Ashore, described the comments as sheer blackmail, misleading and uncalled for.

ACPN expressed disappointment at the statement from a professional body it described as a traditional ally in the Nigerian health sector, and did not expect such a disparaging outburst capable of straining professional relationships from leadership of the AMLSN.ACPN said that although “there is no law in Nigeria that prohibits interested stakeholders from registering laboratory facilities as part of in-house pharmacy, hospital facilities, or stand-alone medical laboratories; registered Community Pharmacies that do not register Laboratories are certainly not encouraged by the association to engage in unlawful practice.”

According to the document, ACPN will continue to respect the provisions of the National Health Act 2014 that recognises Pharmacies as Health Facilities in Nigeria. Adding that, “this is why a few interested pharmacies have lawfully included Laboratories in their practice settings.”

The pharmacists body said it could not imagine the AMLSN president suggesting that registered pharmacy facilities cannot handle point-of-care testing in their practice, as endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH).

“The FMOH encourages and has since directed that Pharmacy Facilities use Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits to confirm that patients are actually infected with malaria parasites before they are dispensed antimalarials, usually Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs), in tandem with the National Malaria Policy. This is the same with some common minor ailments and salient health parameters,” they argued.

This, according to ACPN, is to protect consumers’ health against indiscriminate or unnecessary consumption of drugs, as it makes the health system vulnerable to drug resistance generally and in specific cases, like in malaria, which alone accounts for over 65 per cent of clinical visitations in Nigeria. It also helps to sustain the efficacy of the ACTs which are the drugs of choice.”