The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, has said that the current model, which grants physicians exclusive control over key administrative and procurement roles, has plunged the nation’s health sector into unprecedented corruption, inefficiency and dire patient outcomes.
This accusation came amidst recent claims by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) that physician leadership guarantees better patient outcomes and that doctors do not interfere in the affairs of other health professions.
In a press statement signed by its National Chairman, Pharm. Ambrose Eze, the ACPN directly countered NARD’s assertions, arguing that the existing system, rather than ensuring quality care, has fostered widespread systemic failures.
In what it described as “infamous and outrageous Decree 10 of 1985” as the root cause of the current crisis, ACPN said the decree disrupted an earlier era when trained professional administrators headed hospitals, resulting in a more decorous and efficient healthcare system.
Detailing the alleged failures under physician leadership, they claimed that physicians’ high-handedness has destroyed civil service norms, leading to widespread corruption.
They pointed to physicians monopolising posh slots such as CMD/CEO, C-MAC, and D-CMAC positions, even extending to roles in catering and energy, and most critically, procurement of all hospital equipment and commodities, including drugs.
According to them, this has resulted in a massive and deep recklessness, with the ICPC reportedly branding the health sector as the most corrupt in the national economy.
The association cites instances of at least two physician ministers and several physician CEOs being disgraced out of office on corruption charges, including one under the current Tinubu administration and an MD of FMC Owo found culpable of embezzling COVID-19 funds.
“In 90 per cent of Federal Health Institutions (FHIs), Drug Revolving Fund (DRF) schemes collapsed due to physician diversion of funds, leading to over ₦30 billion in debt owed to the pharmaceutical industry.”
The ACPN attributed the widespread disrepair of new and sophisticated equipment in public hospitals to physicians’ “lack of competence, poor leadership and communication skills, zero relationship management, and general inexperience with regards to business management strategies.”
“Perhaps the most damning accusation is that physician leadership has directly contributed to Nigeria’s “infamous negative health indices, including high infant and maternal mortality rates, fake health commodities, poor logistics, and a dismal ranking of 187th out of 191 health systems globally.”
The ACPN argued that: “Physicians have actively undermined preventive healthcare in favour of curative therapy due to pecuniary gains, rendering environmental health officers ineffective and neglecting crucial preventative measures for diseases like malaria.”
The ACPN vehemently refutes NARD’s claim of non-interference, highlighting glaring examples of what it perceives as physicians’ attempts to control and limit other health professions.
The ACPN questions why physicians insist other colleagues in the sector have no right to diversify their knowledge base, citing the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Consultant Pharmacist Cadre, which Nigerian physicians allegedly abhor.
The ACPN points to physicians’ alleged propensity to negotiate their own salaries while dictating what accrues to non-physician health professionals, leading to significant disparities and delays in salary adjustments for other healthcare workers.
The association accused physicians of perfecting “a climax of absurdity that places a premium of resisting the appointment of non-Physician caregivers and others as Health Ministers, Commissioners and PS at state and federal levels.”
They recalled an instance in 1993 when the NMA allegedly threatened fire and brimstone over the appointment of a pharmacist as Health Minister.
Ezeh, called for a radical overhaul of the Nigerian healthcare system. “ For Nigeria to escape its many years of fruitlessness in the wilderness of healthcare, the government must embrace holistic reforms grounded in global best practices.”
