A new executive bureau, headed by Dr Franck Nana, has been elected at the helmn of the Cameroon National Order of Pharmacists.

The bureau to pilot the affairs of the Order was elected on Friday, January 15, during an elective General Assembly held at the Yaounde Conference Centre.

The President, Dr Franck Nana will be assisted by a Vice President, Dr Issa Hamajoda, a Secretary General, Dr Thomas Lapnet and a treasurer Dr Helene Som.

It was rather a tense atmosphere at the Yaounde Conference Centre where the assembly was taking place giving the stakes of the election of the Order.

After the reading of the authorization for the holding of the Extraordinary General Assembly, the President of the Assembly of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists of Cameroon, Dr. Chantal Eteki, in her welcome address reminded her peers that 2020 has been a very difficult year for them especially as they lost over a dozen of colleagues.

Turning her attention to the outgoing exco of the Order, she said the past three years have been characterised by crises and misunderstandings which have threatened to tear the Order apart.

She then issued a rallying cry to all her colleagues to put their battles behind them, come together and look forward to a better year.

Representing the Minister of Public Health at the exercise, the SECRETARY General at the Ministry of Public Health, Professor Louis Richard Ndjock acknowleged the role played by pharmacists in the fight against the COVID-19 in Cameroon. He further proceeded by challenging the Order to step up their role in the implementation of the Universal Health Coverage during this first quarter of the year.

He equally added that the Government is committed in promoting of the local pharmaceutical industry in order to reduce dependence on imports. For this to be possible, he challenged the Order to put their differences aside and build for a common goal.

It is on this note that the stage was set for the over 900 duly registered delegates among the 2000 members present in the hall that the process to elect a new bureau started and moved on smoothly. But before the election, members of the order took time to pay homage to the outgoing President Dr Prosper Hiag for his commitment and determination especially in training young pharmacists.