The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has placed pharmacists and community pharmacies across the country on high alert following fresh Ebola outbreaks reported in parts of Central and East Africa.
In an emergency nationwide advisory issued on Saturday, PSN President, Ayuba Ibrahim Tanko, directed pharmacists in all 36 states and the FCT to immediately strengthen surveillance, infection prevention measures and emergency response protocols to prevent a possible Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.
Although the Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola case, the PSN warned that pharmacies are often the first place sick people visit before going to hospitals, making pharmacists critical frontline defenders against a possible outbreak.
According to the advisory, pharmacists must now carefully monitor patients showing symptoms such as sudden high fever, weakness, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes or unexplained bleeding.
The society also instructed pharmacies to begin screening patients for recent travel history to affected African regions or possible contact with travellers within the last 21 days.
To tighten safety nationwide, PSN ordered pharmacies to immediately restore strict infection prevention measures including:
• Hand washing stations and alcohol sanitizers at entrances
• Use of gloves and face masks for frontline staff
• Regular disinfection of counters, doors and payment terminals
• Suspension of non essential blood prick tests for patients with unexplained fever
The PSN also warned pharmacists against dangerous self medication and indiscriminate dispensing of malaria drugs or antibiotics for persistent fever cases.
The society strongly cautioned Nigerians against fake Ebola remedies, herbal mixtures and misleading claims circulating online, stressing that early medical care at approved health facilities remains the safest response.
Under the new emergency protocol, any suspected Ebola patient seen in a pharmacy must be isolated immediately while health authorities and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are contacted without delay.
“Do not advise suspected patients to use public transport,” the PSN warned.
Nigeria successfully contained a deadly Ebola outbreak in 2014 after swift action by health workers prevented what could have become a national catastrophe. Many experts now believe early vigilance will again determine whether the country stays protected.
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