The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed off no less than 440 pharmacies and patent medicine stores in Gombe for various offences.
The premises were sealed as part of interventions to sanitise the drug distribution chain in the country.
Registrar of the body Elijah Mohammed told reporters in Gombe on Thursday that the aim of the enforcement exercise was to ensure that all premises where medicines are sold were registered, having fulfilled conditions with respect to location, storage facilities, environment, documentation and Personnel.
Mohammed who was represented by the Director of Enforcement, Stephen Esumobi, said the anomalies became worse since the lockdown which was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said: “At the end of the enforcement exercise, a total of six hundred and eighteen (618) premises comprising forty-five (45) pharmacies and five hundred and seventy-three (573) patent medicine shops were visited.
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“A total of four hundred and forty (440) premises made up of eight (8) pharmacies and four hundred and thirty-two (432) patent medicine shops were sealed for various offences, some of which include operating without registration with Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, failure to renew premises license, dispensing ethical products without the supervision of a pharmacist, poor storage and sanitary conditions among others while twenty-five (25) pharmacies and patent medicine shops were issued compliance directives.”
Mohammed advised members of the public to purchase their medicines from licensed pharmacies and simple household remedies from licensed patent and proprietary medicines vendors.
He explained that some of the medicines that are photosensitive are exposed to direct sunlight thus making many of them unsuitable for consumption.
