Ogun State First Lady, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun
Increase in budgetary allocations to the health sector in this year’s Federal and State budgets showed that healthcare system is climbing higher on our national priority list, but sustaining the investments is what would help to strengthen pharmaceutical research, regulation, and local production, Ogun State First Lady, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun has observed.
Speaking on the theme, “Harnessing Pharmaceutical Innovations for Equitable Health Care in A Rapidly Evolving Economy”, at the 2025 Pharmacy Week organised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ogun State Branch, at Abeokuta yesterday, the First Lady called on professionals in the pharmaceutical industries to build on existing legacies and do more to revitalise the Local Industries for more innovations.
While commending the society for its consistency, high ethical standards and a commitment to professional excellence, she warned that following the gradual withdrawal of critical funding and support from key global partners, the responsibility now rests more heavily on our domestic institutions, pharmacists, and government to cover the gap, noting that “we must begin to build resilience through domestic resource mobilisation and strategic public-private partnerships”.
“We must begin to strengthen institutions like the proposed Ogun State Pharma Resource Hub, to ensure that we have the local infrastructure needed to produce, store, and distribute medicines effectively,” Abiodun disclosed.
In his charge, Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide, commended the society for raising the bar, while calling on the professionals to look more inward in their pharmaceutical approach with all the nation’s resources, charging them to carry out more inventions and research so as to domesticate our drugs.
The Chairman of the Occasion, Pharm. Samson Osewa, in his address disclosed that if we truly want to harness pharmaceutical innovation to deliver healthcare not just for some, but for all, we must build stronger partnerships and collaborate with government, private companies, universities, and civil societies as no single sector could do it alone. He said that equitable healthcare was not just an ideal but a commitment and a responsibility to each individual deserving of care.
In his welcome address, the Chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ogun State Branch, Pharm. Adewale Adenugba, reaffirmed the commitment of the society to the health and well-being of the people through effective policy advocacy, professional ethics, capacity building, and innovations.
