Igbinedion varsity sets up factory for tablets production
The Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo State, says it has set up a tablets manufacturing factory to meet the local needs of its teaching hospital and the host community.
Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, Vice-Chancellor of the university, disclosed this on Wednesday during the 13th oath- taking/induction ceremony for 101 pharmacy graduates of the 2022/2023 session.
He explained that the facility was domiciled in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical technology in the university.
“It was designed for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research, extemporaneous compounding as well as production of tablets.
“The institution has also built an automated line for the production of antiseptics, disinfectants and reagents.
“This will further strengthen our teaching and research, and to meet the immediate aseptic needs of the University Teaching Hospital and other health institutions in the state,” he said.
The vice-chancellor, thereafter, urged the inductees to cultivate a sense of purpose in their profession.
Rather than be just dispensers of medicine, Ezemonye advised the new pharmacists to be advocates for premium health and well-being.
Performing the oath- taking on the inductees, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) urged them to maintain ethical standards of the profession.
The council, he said, frowned seriously at professional misconduct of any sort and would not hesitate to sanction any erring member.
The registrar urged the inductees to take their internship programme seriously and specialise while building their careers.
Meanwhile, in his induction lecture, Chief Paul Enebeli described the role of pharmacy in healthcare delivery as pivotal that needed to be optimised.
In the lecture titled, he said the role of a pharmacist as the most accessible health care provider had expanded to include a wide range of services for individual and community health.
These functions of pharmacists, he noted, were presently underutilised, and the potential roles in patient care could be seen as a missed opportunity to improve the health system of Nigeria.
Enebeli, however, called on the Federal Government to immediately remove all obstacles to the implementation of the Pharmacist Consultant Cadre Circular as approved by the government in 2020.
This, he said, was to enable the Nigerian people to benefit from the services of consultant pharmacists.
“There is an urgent need for pharmacists to take their rightful place in the health care sector in Nigeria, and to make maximum use of our training, knowledge, skills and competencies at our disposal.
The guest speaker concluded by calling on the government to open the headship of tertiary health institutions to all the groups of professionals in the healthcare system.
