Pharmacists Task FG, Regulators On Patients’ Safety

West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists(WAPCP) have called on the Federal Government and health sector regulators to prioritise continuous training as a major pillar for guaranteeing patients’ safety in the country.

The call was made in Abuja during an interactive journal club organised by the FCT Zone of the College to commemorate World Patient Safety Day 2026, themed Safe Care for Non-Communicable Diseases.

The event featured an article presentation and critical appraisal session handled by Pharm Zainab Galadima, who analysed a Nigerian-based research on pharmacist-led intervention among uncontrolled type 2 diabetes patients at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

The study, a parallel randomised controlled trial involving 108 patients followed for six months, showed a 0.75 percent reduction in HbA1c in the intervention group who received structured pharmaceutical care.
Galadima however observed that while the study demonstrated clinical effectiveness, it did not assess core patient safety parameters such as adverse drug reactions, medication errors and drug interactions.

Speaking on the theme, the Zonal Coordinator of the College, Dr. Murray Tijjani, said patient safety remains central to pharmacy practice because of the burden of non-communicable diseases.

“Any healthcare delivery system without drugs lacks substance and credibility. Patients come to health facilities because they believe they will get drugs for their health challenges, so as pharmacists who are experts in drugs, we must ensure those medicines are safe,” he said.

He explained that non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and asthma require lifelong, coordinated care, and repeated interactions with the health system create opportunities for avoidable harm.

He warned that reports of one in ten patients suffering harm in hospitals in advanced settings should worry Nigeria where safety protocols are less observed.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, FCT Branch, Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu, said pharmacists have a broader role beyond dispensing.

“We are not just custodians of medicine dispensing, we are auditors. We talk about reconciliation of medications that are being prescribed to ensure safety and adherence,” she said.

In her remarks, the Vice Chairman, WAPCP Nigeria Chapter, Pharm Ruth Ajayi, said 95 percent of patients end their hospital visit at the pharmacy, making what pharmacists hand over to them critical.

She warned that patients managing multiple non-communicable diseases face high risks of drug interactions, citing an example where drugs used for arthritis could interact with antihypertensive medicines or cause peptic ulceration if not properly counselled.

On his part, the editor of the Nigeria Chapter of the College, Dr Abubakar Danraka, explained that the study from Bauchi on pharmacist-led intervention in uncontrolled diabetes showed better glycaemic control in patients who had pharmacist intervention.

He however noted that the study did not address safety parameters such as adverse drug reactions and drug interactions, which his zone intends to improve upon.

Danraka said the role of pharmacists as custodians of medicines in guaranteeing medication safety and improving health outcomes cannot be overemphasised, stressing that any serious and responsible government cannot afford to ignore what pharmacists offer.

He added that since human beings are bound to make errors, continuous training and retraining remains one of the seven pillars of patient safety, and called on professional regulators and supervisory ministries to emphasise capacity building to reduce preventable harm.