Stephen Olufemi Oni 
…Training of Intern Pharmacists to resume
No fewer than seven Kwara State Hospital pharmacy departments have secured accreditation from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) to operate as internship training centres for graduate pharmacists.
It would be recalled that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq had last year given his approval and full support to the management of the Kwara State Hospitalisation Management Board to seek the re-accreditation of the pharmacy departments of state hospitals that were lost more than 20 years ago.
The accredited facilities are General Hospital Patigi, General Hospital Offa, Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Civil Service Hospital, Aisha Buhari Mother & Child Hospital, Sobi Specialist Hospital, Children’s Specialist Hospital and Kwara State Essential Drugs Project.
Dr Abdulraheem Malik, the Executive Secretary of the board, said: “It was a long and tedious process that involved the PCN sending an accreditation team to Kwara State to inspect the proposed facilities.
“We are very happy we succeeded and Kwara State can resume the training of intern pharmacists from all schools of pharmacy in Nigeria that it lost 2 decades ago.”
He further explained that due diligence was observed throughout the accreditation process, as all facilities were required to meet specific preconditions before receiving approval.
“This marks a significant boost for the health sector under this current administration that will help in further closing our manpower gaps,” Dr. Malik posited.
Dr. Malik assured the public of the Board’s commitment to supervising and monitoring all the accredited facilities to ensure sustained improvements in healthcare service delivery in the State.
He added: “Processing has also commenced to secure accreditations to begin the training of intern nurses and medical laboratory scientists.”
