*Receives global ISO 9001:2015 certification
The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has said that it has put in place necessary measures to ensure that Nigerians have access to improved service delivery.
Speaking while receiving the ISO 9001:2015 certificate in Abuja on Thursday, the Registrar of PCN, Dr Elijah Mohammed, noted that the certification was a great feat not only for the PCN but for Nigerians.
The ISO 9001: 2015 is an internationally recognized standard for Quality Management Systems (QMS). It is the most widely used QMS standard in the world, with over 1 million certificates issued to organizations in 178 countries.
In his welcome address, Mohammed said the ISO Certification guarantees the PCN entity right to meets global standards for pharmacy regulation to the satisfaction of stakeholders.
He said, “The attainment of the ISO 9001:2015 is a great milestone not only to the PCN but to Nigeria at large. With this certification, there is going to be improved service delivery by the PCN, key stakeholders and ultimately it will benefit the Nigerian people, most especially patients who are going to be on the receiving end of the services.
“With this, we have been empowered with more ideas on how to carry out regulatory functions.
“Also, processes have been put in place to enable us go into the field to carry out enforcement. This is to ensure that Nigerians have quality products and services. This will also enable us to efficiently check mate individuals that are not doing the right thing.
“Plans are already in place to visit relevant agencies to see how we can encourage individuals and companies to look inward in the Pharmaceutical products locally. Most of the raw materials are imported. We want to ensure that the ingredients are produced locally. This will also boost the local market”.
Giving a detailed account on its journey in attaining the feat, the PCN Registrar explained that it has made tremendous effort over the years to consistently improve on its regulatory functions for attainment of global best practices in pharmaceutical regulations.
He said, “The journey to ISO 9001:2015 certification began, following the assessment visit by World Health Organization (WHO) to Nigeria in June 2019 for global benchmarking exercise of Nigeria Regulatory Authority (NRA), during which it was recommended that PCN should institutionalize Quality Management System (QMS).
“The PCN collaboration with USP/PQM+ programme began in 2021. This collaboration necessitated the need to conduct a baseline assessment of the PCN Head office/ Registry with respect to the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 standards.
“This was followed by series of capacity building, review and developments of PCN documents and conduct of internal audit. The PCN Quality Team ably led by the Quality Manager – Dr. Amina Omar and indeed the entire Registry staff exhibited unparalleled commitment towards institutionalization of QMS in PCN.
“The certification audit was later carried out in December, 2021 by NECA’s Global Certification Ltd, after which the PCN Head Office/Registry was found to be in accordance with the requirement of ISO 9001; 2015 Quality Management Systems standards.
“The entire process was supported and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)”.
In her remarks, the USAID Mission Director, Ann Patterson, said she was delighted that USAID has supported the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria to attend the internationally- Recognised International Organisation for Standardization Certificate.
According to her, the achievement will improve the quality of Nigeria’s health system and save the lives of millions of Nigerian’s, especially women and children.
She said, it will also strengthen the partnership between USAID and Nigeria to streamline modernize health intervention and services.
Patterson said, “USAID has been strengthening Medicine Quality Assurance system and regulatory functions in Nigeria since 2013. These support has led directly to the international accreditation of five medicine quality laboratories in Lagos, Anambra and Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) .
“ USAID, through promoting the quality of Medicine Plus Project, has worked closely with the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Nigeria for many years to increase the availability of quality medicine for maternal and child health for example, malaria medicine. These has ensured that manufacturing processes are with international best practices. This support will help eliminate substandard and counterfeit medicine from the Nigerian market”.
