The Abuja branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, on Monday launched its Drug Information Centre, DIC, in Abuja, in commemoration of this year’s World Pharmacists’ Day.

Speaking at the event, chairman of the Abuja branch of the society, Pharm. Ifeanyi Ikebudu, stated that the DIC was launched to facilitate easy access to information on drugs and the possible interactions that they can have with other drugs or food, and their general properties and effects.

Ikebudu further stated that the decision to set up the centre was informed by the circumstances that played out during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how a simple DIC would have prevented the spread of false information about the use of drugs and other issues that trailed the Covid-19 pandemic.

“What informed this decision was what we experienced during Covid. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were so many myths and hypotheses about medications and what they could do to either prevent the disease or contain it. But they were not information from professionals.

“So what we want to do is that at the PSN secretariat, we will have such a centre that whenever you need any information about any particular drug or ailment you can get it either through a search button or by calling the personnel who will be working there 24/7,” stated Ikebudu.

The PSN chairman further that the centre will be ICT-based and would be driven by a website which can be logged into for engagements, adding that there would be phone lines that would be open to the public for interactions.

Concluding his speech, Ikebudu said his special message for everyone on the occasion of the World Pharmacy Day was that “for everything that has to do with medications and drugs, you can always trust your pharmacist. Pharmacists have been known to be the most-trusted professionals you can get. All the assessments that have been done have always indicated that pharmacists can be trusted.”

The World Pharmacists’ Day is celebrated annually on the 25th of September. To mark this year’s celebration, the PSN visited the Anglican Girls Grammar School at Apo, Abuja, to engage the students in career talks and to enlighten them on the benefits of becoming career pharmacists.

The society also visited two orphanages at Karu and Gwarimpa, and embarked on a health outreach at the Garki International Market where free tests were conducted and free medications and eye glasses were given to those who need them.