Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called for a strategic policy on prescribing and dispensing of medicines to grow local brands.
The association’s national chairman, Mr Adewale Oladigbolu, made the call during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday.
Oladigbolu appealed to physicians to prescribe medicine in their generic name instead of brands.
“Why should physicians be prescribing Augmentin when we know that there are hundreds of similar products with the same efficacy available in the market registered by NAFDAC.
“If a physician writes Amoxicillin clavulanate capsule which is the generic name for Augmentin, the pharmacist can prescribe any available drug in the category,” he said.
According to him, Augmentin currently cost about N25,000 due to the exit of its producer from the country, whereas similar products sell for N2,500, but they perform exact function.