The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPHARM) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), on Tuesday, inaugurated a special committee to tackle the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The ceremony, which was done virtually, had pharmaceutical professionals, associations researchers, academia and the members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, as members of the committee.
In his welcome address, Mr Ifeanyi Atueyi, Vice-President, NAPHARM, said the academy came up with the idea of constituting the Covid-19 committee to assist the Federal Government’s efforts at curtailing the spread of the pandemic.
“Since it was founded on June 26, 2014, NAPHARM has contributed to efforts leading to some milestones in the overall health delivery value chain in Nigeria.
“We started with 47 members and now we have 82 members of the academy.
“In those years, we have facilitated reforms in the tertiary institutions, hosted a pharmacy education summit and provided mentoring and guidance to young pharmacists through various programmes,” he said.
He added that the academy was established to promote scientific research and professional development in the health and pharmaceutical sectors to overcome challenges posed by sicknesses and diseases.
In his keynote address, President of NAPHARM, Mr Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, emphasised the importance of collaboration in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is the first time that a non-health sector group has been chosen as partners to underscore the need to create awareness around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We strongly believe that much more can be achieved together if we pull resources together in such a way that we amplify the good and debunk the bad.
“Pharmacists have a role to play and have to be seen as playing that role, and one way to penetrate the public is to bring in the media.
Adelusi-Adeluyi added that although a global challenge, the pandemic had presented an opportunity for pharmacists to break new grounds.
“COVID-19 is a crisis and we have been exposed to it, but we must not let the opportunity waste away because this is our chance to break new grounds.
“We need to tackle the issues; that COVID-19 is real and that it is propelling the fear factor among a section of the population,” he said.
The President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Isah Mustapha, commended NAPHARM for taking a collaborative approach to its COVID-19 response mechanism.
He said the NGE welcomed the academy’s COVID-19 initiative and noted that ordinary Nigerians would benefit from the special committee’s effort at contributing to tackling the pandemic.
The committee has as members Mr Ifeanyi Atueyi (Chairman), Mr Azubuike Ishiekwene (Co-Chairman) and Mary Atolagbe (Publicity Secretary).
Others are Chioma Ogbu (Secretary), Busayo Abolarin (Assistant Secretary) and Dr Lolu Ojo (Director of Organisation).
