World Pharmacists Day: Pharmaceutical store Noro, provides free medical services in Jos
Nigeria
AS Nigeria joins the global community to mark World Pharmacists Day, a private pharmaceutical store in Jos, Noro Pharmacy, has called for greater integration of expertise into the country’s healthcare system.
The healthcare store marking the day by providing a two-day free medical care to the indigents, said it is anticipating a period in the country where healthcare professionals will periodically offer free services, saying that the country will save more vulnerable individuals, who can hardly afford health examinations due to harsh economic realities.
On the theme for the 2025 celebration, “Think Health, Think Pharmacist,” the Managing Director Noro Pharmacy, Mrs Weng Sunday Dung, emphasised that pharmacists play crucial roles in patient safety, rational use of medicines, and public health promotion, but remained underutilised within hospitals and policy frameworks.
When asked why Noro Pharmacy took the bold step to embark on the gesture of free treatment, She informed that the Pharmacistical store is also marking its 20th anniversary, hence the giveaway.
She however, urged the federal government to take proactive steps to fix the poor medical infrastructure in health facilities across the country in order to stem medical tourism.
“To ensure we play our role in ensuring the indigents gets free access to medical care, we have been screening them on Body Mass Index (BMI) for them to know their status”, Dung said.
According to her: “This includes knowing how weighty they are, whether they are too fat or too slim. We have also been taking their blood pressure, and blood sugar samples.
“Other examinations include eye checkups, heart checkups, bones, and we also have a TB and leprosy unit”, she said.
Noro Pharmacy also informed that the Plateau State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (PLASCHEMA) that provides accessible and affordable healthcare for citizens across the State, were also on ground to sensitize people on how they can regularly get cheaper healthcare.
Sponsored by an Optical Eye Drop manufacturing company SKT, Dung said she is excited to see how people were expressing joy that healthcare solution has come to their doorstep.
“Solution is coming to people, Health is coming to people, wellness is coming to people”, she said.
Also speaking, the National Sales Manager SKT, Osita Nwankwo, observed that many Nigerians, especially in rural communities, are passing through difficult medical challenges but cannot access healthcare services due to lack of facilities, poor infrastructure, and poverty, he said.
On his part, one of the consultant Doctors, Dung Nehemiah, who was on ground attending to patients, said most of the cases brought to him were hypertensive patients, adding that some were also patients with eye problems.
He mentioned other issues treated but emphasized that the rate of young people with hypertension was alarming, he said.
One of the beneficiaries who is an elderly woman simply identified as madam Mercy, said she was excited to have been attended to.
Mercy said she was suffering from BP, diabetes, and arthritis.
“I thank God for the opportunity”, she said.
