The Association of Community Pharmacists, Anambra state Chapter has called on the state government to integrate them into the Anambra State Health Insurance Agency for improved health service delivery.
ACPN made the call recently during the thirty-third annual conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Anambra State Chapter themed, ‘Innovative Strategies for Expanding Community Pharmacy Services in Anambra, a path to Universal Health Coverage’, in Awka.
In his remark, the Anambra State Chairman of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Pharmacist Henry Iloh said ACPN has keyed in the United Nation’s key for health care which ASHIA has done a great work in achieving universal health coverage but we are saddled with the challenges that the community Pharmacist have not being fully integrated into the ASHIA framework, so we are trying to design a framework to ensure there is always a Pharmacist input in the whole process because health care needs every unit has something to contribute for the patient”.
“So if the pharmacist input is ignored or neglected, definitely the patient loses in one way or the other and you cannot guarantee the safety, quality and sources of drugs we get to the patient. So that is why we are asking for integration in the whole process to ensure the overall wellbeing of the patient and by extension all the enrollees of ASHIA and Ndi Anambra in general”.
In his remark, Managing Director of Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, ASHIA, Dr Simeon Onyemaechi, stressed that the agency and Community Pharmacists integration will play a major role to ensuring improved health conditions of the people through health insurance scheme. He pointed out that Universal Health Coverage requires the involvement of major stakeholders in the health sector.
On the role of Community Pharmacists in the administration of Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, Dr Onyemaechi hinted that there are members engaged to provide its facilities with quality-assured medicines for enrollees.
He further disclosed that the agency has linkages with some Community Pharmacists across the state to ensure that out-of-stock syndrome does not hamper its operations,
The ASHIA Managing Director further informed that Community Pharmacists can collaborate with ASHIA for more impact through community outreach health programmes, as well as using their reach and services to get more people enrolled into the scheme by referring those having challenges in purchasing prescribed medications.
He said that Governor Chukwuma Soludo, instead of upward review of money for enrollment, increased subsidy for the scheme to ensure the sustenance of the programme.
Earlier the Chairman of the event, Dr Ikem Odumodu, said that low budgetary allocation, limited knowledge at subnational level, high out-of-pocket expenditure, are challenges to health insurance policy and called for strategic collaboration to address them.
Odumodu maintained that the importance of Pharmacists in community healthcdelivery cannot be over emphasised right from production of drugs to its dispensation to patients.
Pharm Ifeanyi Justine Okeke, fellow pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria, said community pharmacy in Anambra are very important in delivery health insurance programs of the goverment because they are close to the people. “So we want the Anambra health insuarance agency to integrate community Pharmacists in providing services to their enrollees. Recently, the community Pharmacist were integrated into vaccination programme of the govement and since then, the result have soared high amd that is why we encourage the state government and the agency to seek community Pharmacists providers for improved health delivery.
President Association of Anambra Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director Pax Pharmacy, Pharm Uche Apakama maintained that Pharmacist has more responsibilities in terms of provision not drugs, vaccination and other related community based services. By law there are things ASHIA cannot do and thats is why the role of Pharmacists in ASHIA can be further expanded.
While commending the efforts of ASHIA urged the national insurance agency to emulate the Anambra State insurance agency to be more efficient and productive. Adding that Prof Soludo has done well in improving the infrastructural development in the state.
