Nnamani wants pharmacy stores in rural areas
November 2, 2006

Governor Nnamani, who made the call when he received in audience members of the executive of the State Branch of the Society at the Government House, Enugu, said that the establishment of pharmacy stores in remote areas would help complement and promote government's efforts toward qualitative healthcare in the rural areas.

According to the governor, pharmacy stores in the rural areas where more than seventy percent of the people resides will help check the activities of quacks and unwholesome patient medicine dealers.

In his words, "... the problem we have presently is that we have registered pharmacists in the urban areas but we do not have them in the rural areas and the patient medicine dealers are still holding fort in our rural areas.. ."

Governor Nnamani used the occasion to re-state his government's commitment to providing qualitative healthcare services to the people in the state, especially the rural dwellers.

"Our aim basically is to provide qualitative health services to our people not just those in urban areas but even those in the rural areas" he said.

Governor Nnamani, who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi, promised his government's assistance to the association by providing the necessary infrastructure and other logistics to ensure that healthcare delivery was improved.

According to him, "government will come to your assistance either in providing the necessary infrastructure or working with the police to provide security in that area".

The State Chief Executive noted that the State Government has invested so much in the health sector of the state economy by training and empowering medical personnel, establishing over 350 health centers, 7 District Hospitals, as well as a brand new College of Medicine and Teaching Hospital for the State University of Science and Technology, ESUT.

He commended the society for establishing an international poison and drug information center in the state and some of their members in NAFDAC for their excellent work for the nation and mankind.

Earlier in her address, the state chairman of the society, Mrs. Ngozi Chi-Madu, noted with dismay the inadequacy and lack of information on poison and drugs in the country. This, she said, always made it difficult for people to have accurate data on most of the drugs in circulation and those they use.

According to her, to check this ugly development the PSN Enugu State Branch is establishing an international poison and drug information center in the state as its contribution towards the provision of information, data and facts on drugs and poison in the state.

Mrs. Ngozi Chi-Madu therefore appealed to Governor Nnamani to provide access road and maximum security at the poison and drug information center described as the first of its kind in the South-East zone.

Mrs. Madu used the period of the visit to commend Governor Nnamani for establishing a School of Pharmacy and also for embarking on social health programme by de-worming school children with the help of UNICEF.