NAFDAC, PCN Urged To Extend Regulatory Activities To Rural Communities

The deputy Vice Chancellor of the Nasarawa state University, Keffi, Prof. Yakubu Boyi Ngwai, has called on National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) to extend theirregulatory activities to the rural areas to curb the menace of sharp practices in drugs administration which endangers the lives of the rural populace. Ngwai, a Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, also called for the establishment of offices in all the Local Government Areas in the country to strengthenits services, saying it will ensure availability of quality antibiotics and other drugs and reduce the indiscriminate sales of antibiotics by unlicensed stores. He suggested a robust synergy between NAFDAC and PCN to intensify effort in ensuring the right thing was done as it relates to distribution and quality of antibiotics for use in Nigeria.. The University Don expressed concern over the spread of antibiotic resistance in humans, blaming it on widespread misuse/abuse of antibiotics in ways such as indiscriminate usage without prescription, non-adherence to prescribed dosing schedule, use for wrong reasons, among others. He explained that all the factors that promote antibiotic resistance ensure that bacteria are exposed to antibiotic concentrations that are below what is required to inhibit or kill the bacteria. As a result, the bacteria becomes “trained” to withstand clinical doses of the antibiotics.