Kaduna State governor, Senator Uba Sani has described as alarming the increased abuse of pharmaceutical opioids, including Tramadol and Codeine by youths in the North-West geopolitical zone.
Speaking at a reception organised by the Kaduna branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in honour of its new National President and Deputy President (North), Ayuba Ibrahim and Aisha Isyaku, the Governor urged the society to address the challenges bordering on abuse of opioids by youths.
Represented by the Director General of Kaduna State Bureau for Substance Abuse (KADBUSA), Joseph Ike, Governor Sani noted that 1 out of 7 youths use drugs in Nigeria, quoting the 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey.
“Here in North-Western Nigeria, we see an unacceptably high prevalence of abuse of pharmaceutical opioids like Tramadol and Codeine. This is especially worrying because we know that 1 out of 5 users of these types of drugs are addicted to them and this portends not just a public health but security and developmental challenge for the region.
“With the new leadership at the national level, and with Pharm. Ibrahim Tanko Ibrahim as President and Pharm. Aisha Tukur Isyaku as Deputy President (North), we are confident that this partnership will be further strengthened and yield even greater results for the betterment of healthcare in Kaduna State and Nigeria as a whole,” Gov Sani said.
He added, “Your expertise in dispensing medications, patient counseling, drug information, and increasingly, in public health initiatives, is vital to achieving our collective goal of providing accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare to all citizens of Kaduna state.”
For his part, PSC Chairman, Kaduna branch, Pharm. Sunday Ali expressed confidence that the new leadership will user in an era of progressive reforms, renewed advocacy and greater unity in the profession.
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