The West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) have warned that Nigeria is facing a silent patient safety crisis, especially in the management of non-communicable diseases, and have called on the Federal Government and health regulators to make continuous training compulsory for health workers.
The call was made in Abuja during an interactive journal club organised by the FCT Zone of the College to mark World Patient Safety Day 2026 with the theme Safe Care for Non-Communicable Diseases.
The session featured a presentation and critical appraisal by Pharm. Zainab Galadima who reviewed a Nigerian research on pharmacist-led intervention among patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.
The study, a parallel randomised controlled trial involving 108 patients followed for six months, showed a 0.75 percent reduction in HbA1c among those who received structured pharmaceutical care.
Galadima who is the Deputy Zonal Coordinator, WAPCP, FCT Zone, noted however that the research demonstrated clinical effectiveness but failed to assess critical safety indicators such as adverse drug reactions, medication errors and drug interactions.
“While the study demonstrated clinical effectiveness, it did not assess core patient safety parameters such as adverse drug reactions, medication errors and drug interactions,” she said.
Speaking at the event, the Zonal Coordinator of the College, Dr. Muftau Tijani, said patient safety is inseparable from pharmacy practice because of the rising burden of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and asthma.
He said any healthcare system without drugs lacks substance and credibility because patients visit hospitals with the expectation of getting medicines, and pharmacists as drug experts must guarantee that such medicines are safe.
He warned that if one in ten patients suffers harm in hospitals in advanced countries, the situation should be of greater concern in Nigeria where safety protocols are less strictly observed, adding that non-communicable diseases require lifelong coordinated care and repeated contact with the health system creates room for avoidable harm.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, FCT Branch, Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu, said pharmacists are not just dispensers but auditors of prescriptions who reconcile medications to ensure safety and adherence.
Also speaking, the Vice Chairman of WAPCP, Nigeria Chapter, Pharm. Ruth Ajayi, said about 95 percent of patients end their hospital visits at the pharmacy, making what they receive there critical.
She said patients managing multiple non-communicable diseases are highly exposed to drug interactions, citing instances where drugs for arthritis could interact with antihypertensives or cause peptic ulcer if proper counselling is not done.
Also speaking, the Editor of the Nigeria Chapter of the College, Dr. Abubakar Danraka, said while the Bauchi study showed improved glycaemic control in patients who had pharmacist intervention, the failure to address safety parameters is a gap the College intends to correct in future research.
He stressed that the role of pharmacists as custodians of medicines in ensuring medication safety and better health outcomes cannot be overemphasised, noting that any serious and responsible government cannot afford to ignore what pharmacists offer.
He said human errors are inevitable in healthcare delivery and continuous training and retraining, which is one of the seven pillars of patient safety, remains crucial to reducing preventable harm, urging professional regulators and supervisory ministries to prioritise capacity building.
