Plateau Assembly may exempt Pharmacy premises from park and pay – Speaker
By Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
The Plateau state House of Assembly may consider exempting Pharmaceutical premises from the park and pay policy passed into law by the 8th Assembly.
The law was to see to it that cars parked at public places must attract a fee aimed at boosting the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
However considering the exemption for pharmacies, the Speaker Plateau state House of Assembly, Hon. Joshua Madaki explained that premises such as pharmacies are considered to be essential and emergency service providers, hence the House will look into the law to amend it.
He said even though the policy is to enhance the state’s income, essential service providers will be considered to save humanity.
Madaki stated this yesterday in Jos, the Plateau state capital, while receiving in audience the Association of Community Pharmacists (APCN), who graced his office on a courtesy visit.
Speaking on behalf of APCN, Chairman of the group, Chief Lawrence Ekwebelem, said the implementation of the law affects patient’s access to their medicine.
“Community pharmacy practice is more a social health service than a mere business venture: the parking space in front of the pharmacies are emergency zones, similar to an ambulance bay, meant for patients who may urgently need to access the pharmacies to purchase their drugs prescriptions for their treatment and obstructing the access to a pharmacy could have dire consequences for a patient.
“Imagine a scenario of an emergency where lifesaving medications need to be procured and the patient’s care giver drives to the pharmacy and does not get a parking space, the fate of this patient is better imagined than experienced”.
Ekwebelem added that thousands of Plateau citizens face the avoidable danger of worsening their health conditions or even die as a result of difficulty in accessing their medicines due to obstruction of parking access in front of the pharmacies occasioned by the park and pay policy.
“The policy will also result in increasing the cost of medicines beyond the reach of majority of our people who are already overburdened by the economic challenges our country face”, he said.
