Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has called for stronger collaboration between his administration and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria to improve healthcare delivery and tackle the circulation of counterfeit drugs.

Soludo made the call on Tuesday while declaring open the 99th Annual National Conference of the PSN at the International Convention Centre, Awka.

Welcoming delegates to the state, the governor described Anambra as “Nigeria’s pharmaceutical headquarters”.

The conference, tagged “Ijele 2026”, has the theme, ‘One health, One pharmacy: Bridging knowledge, practice and policy for national impact’.

Soludo said pharmacists played a vital role in building a healthy and productive society, urging the professional body to work with the state government to strengthen regulation and ensure safe pharmaceutical practices.

He said, “We urge pharmacists to join hands with the state government in cracking down on fake and counterfeit drugs. We also call on the leadership to police members’ operations and eliminate fake shops posing as registered pharmacies.

“Human capital remains Anambra’s greatest asset. Our major strides in public education, where reforms and free schooling from kindergarten to secondary level have slashed the out-of-school children rate to 0.25 percent, the lowest in the country.”

The governor also highlighted his administration’s efforts to improve healthcare delivery, including the revamp of primary healthcare centres and a free antenatal care programme.

He said the programme had served more than 250,000 pregnant women and supported over 900 free caesarean section deliveries.

Soludo added that work was ongoing on a dedicated pharmaceutical hub in Oba, alongside a Coordinated Wholesale Centre expected to be completed early next year.

Earlier, the President of the PSN, Ayuba Ibrahim, recalled his previous pledge to host the society’s flagship national conference in Anambra.

Ibrahim also noted that his earlier prediction of Soludo’s electoral victory had materialised, while expressing appreciation to the governor for his support for the pharmacy profession.

The society later presented an excellence award to Soludo in recognition of his support for pharmacy practice in Anambra and beyond.

The pharmaceutical sector plays a critical role in Nigeria’s healthcare system, particularly in the production, distribution and dispensing of medicines.

However, the circulation of fake and substandard drugs, unlicensed medicine outlets and poor regulatory compliance remain concerns for public health

The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria regulates the training and practice of pharmacists, as well as the registration of pharmacy premises, while the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control oversees the regulation of medicines and other regulated products.

Source: punchng.com

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Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has made history as the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate after defeating former Republican Representative Mike Rogers in Michigan’s closely watched midterm election.

El-Sayed’s victory, projected by US media on Tuesday, secured the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters and marked a milestone for Muslim representation in American politics.

According to Anadolu Agency, the 42-year-old Egyptian-American former public health official will assume office when the new Congress convenes in January.

His victory followed a competitive Democratic primary in August, in which he defeated Representative Haley Stevens before securing his party’s ticket for the general election.

El-Sayed’s campaign attracted support from prominent progressive politicians, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib.

He campaigned on expanding access to healthcare through Medicare for All, reducing housing costs, limiting the influence of wealthy donors in politics and improving economic opportunities for working families.

His position on US support for Israel also featured prominently during the campaign.

El-Sayed criticised American military assistance to Israel, described its military operations in Gaza as genocide and called for an end to unconditional US military support.

The issue generated divisions within the Democratic Party, particularly after Stevens, whom he defeated in the primary, endorsed Rogers two days before the general election.

Stevens said her decision was informed by concerns about El-Sayed’s campaign rhetoric and political associations, drawing criticism from some Democrats.

El-Sayed rejected allegations linking him to extremism, arguing that the attacks were an attempt to divert attention from the economic challenges facing Americans.

Born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, to Egyptian immigrant parents, El-Sayed studied medicine and public health before venturing into politics.

He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007 and obtained a doctorate in public health from the University of Oxford in 2011 as a Rhodes Scholar.

He later earned his medical degree from Columbia University in 2014.

In 2015, he was appointed health director for Detroit, where he oversaw efforts to rebuild the city’s public health services following its financial crisis. He held the position until 2017.

He contested the Michigan governorship in 2018 but lost the Democratic primary to Gretchen Whitmer.

Between 2023 and 2025, he served as director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services.

His election marks a new chapter in Muslim political representation in the United States. Although Muslim Americans have previously served in the House of Representatives, none had been elected to the Senate before his victory.

Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006, while Tlaib and Ilhan Omar made history in 2018 as the first Muslim women elected to the House of Representatives.

Source: punchng.com

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United States President Donald Trump has rejected suggestions that his leadership and policies contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections, instead blaming the party’s candidates for failing to mobilise voters.

The election results, which saw Democrats win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate on Tuesday, have raised questions about Trump’s political standing and the direction of his administration for the remainder of his term.

While members of both parties viewed the outcome as a rejection of Trump’s record in office, the President dismissed the suggestion that the results represented a setback for him.

“But I don’t view it as a hit on me,” Trump told Fox News in a live phone interview.

“We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we’ve done.”

Trump argued that the losses were largely caused by the performance of individual Republican candidates rather than his administration’s policies, including the war in Iran and tariffs that have contributed to rising prices.

He also blamed what he described as favourable media coverage of Democratic candidates, particularly on Fox News, saying the election outcome came as only a “little surprise”.

“I thought they’d do better,” he said, referring to Republican candidates.

He later attributed the outcome to a “mood in the air”, while maintaining that his administration’s policy agenda would continue despite the Democrats’ gains in Congress.

The election followed weeks of campaigning by Trump, who travelled to Republican-leaning states to rally support for candidates, urging voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot”.

However, the strategy failed to deliver the expected results, with Trump insisting that the candidates did not do enough to attract voters.

“They just didn’t inspire the people to get out and vote,” he told Fox News.

“And I wasn’t on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, they would have got out.”

Several of the defeated candidates, including Darline Graham in South Carolina, Ken Paxton in Texas, Michael Whatley in North Carolina and Mike Collins in Georgia, had received Trump’s endorsement.

Some of the endorsements had also been made against the wishes of other Republican leaders.

Trump, however, did not acknowledge his role in selecting the candidates as he criticised their performances.

“I had no choice,” he said, defending his decision to support Paxton over incumbent Senator John Cornyn in Texas.

“When it wasn’t fashionable, he kissed my ass.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform shortly before midnight, Trump indicated that he would publicly analyse the reasons behind the party’s losses.

“I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!” he wrote.

He subsequently criticised Texas Governor Greg Abbott, describing him as a “Republican in name only” and accusing him of returning to an unsuccessful political strategy.

“He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!” Trump wrote.

However, in an interview with Politico around the same period, the President said he was not interested in blaming anyone for the outcome.

“I don’t want to blame anybody,” he said.

“I just want to say, you know, it was a very interesting period of time. I watched with great interest, learned from it.”

Trump also expressed willingness to work with Democrats, who will now have greater influence over legislative decisions in Washington.

He said he had already spoken with some Democratic politicians, although he did not identify them.

“You know, I have a lot of friends that are Democrats. Believe it or not, I’ve already spoken to some of them,” he said.

The President spoke about finding areas of agreement with the opposition party, although similar promises of bipartisan cooperation following Republican losses in the 2018 midterm elections did not produce significant results.

Meanwhile, Trump dismissed suggestions that he regretted his decision to launch the war in Iran, an issue some Republicans have identified as contributing to the party’s poor electoral performance.

“I don’t think about it. I did the right thing,” he told The Wall Street Journal when asked whether he regretted the military action.

“I would have done it again.”

Source: punchng.com

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