Young Pharmacists as Champions of the SDGs 2030: The YPG Lagos Week
By Oguns Yimika — General Secretary, PSN-YPG Lagos
There is no gainsaying that achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals will require concerted efforts by young people either implicitly or explicitly. Their contributions will be based on their knowledge, reach and the solutions they can proffer to pressing world development challenges. The roles of young people in the achievement of the SDGs can be tied to three main pillars: Awareness, understanding and action.
The Lagos State chapter of the Young Pharmacists Group of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN-YPG Lagos) recently organized a week aimed at creating more awareness about the SDGs, helping the participants understand their role in its implementation, thereby hoping to drive them to action as individuals and as health care professionals. The activities of the chapter have been mostly in line with the SDG 3 and SDG 17, Good health and well-being and partnerships to achieve the goals. This week was not an exception.
The week started out on October 10 with the World Mental Health Day when a mental health awareness walk and campaign was held in Surulere, a part of Lagos notorious for drug abuse. The campaign was held in collaboration with Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI), BetaLife Initiative, and Greenlife Pharmaceuticals and had over forty volunteers as participants.
The theme of the week was “Young Pharmacists as Champions of the SDGs 2030” and the activities included an opening ceremony where a panel session was held on the theme. The keynote speech on the theme was delivered by Mrs. Solape Hammond, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on the SDGs and Investment; she spoke on the importance of being committed to a vision and doing what is required to make things happen. The panelists included the Director of Pharmaceutical Services of Lagos state, Dr. Moyosore Adejumo who spoke on the role of pharmacists and the government in the achievement of the SDGs, the Commissioner of Youth and Sports, Oyo State, Mr. Seun Fakorede who provided perspectives on how young people can leverage on their local advantage to improve their communities and also achieve the goals, and the Project Manager of the Nigeria SDGs Youth Network, Mr Femi Boboye who provided more insight into the different roles of young people in achieving the SDGs and how partnerships with organizations can be of great impact. There was also a session for young pharmacists to share their SDGs journey, showcasing some of their individual efforts and inspiring other participants to identify problem areas in their locality and provide solutions.
The goals of the 2030 agenda are broad and interconnected and in order to make any meaningful impact, young people will have to form strong partnerships with each other and with other stakeholders so that their contributions are recognized and they can be present at all levels of decision making. In line with this, and as part of activities during the week, there was a novelty match between the young pharmacists and other health care professionals in Lagos. The aim was to encourage inter-professional collaboration and create a friendly atmosphere where quality conservations on globally relevant matters can be held without bias. There was a football match between the young male doctors of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos and young male pharmacists which was won by the latter; and a volleyball match between young female nurses of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos and young female pharmacists which was won by the former.
The week ended on October 12 with a Dinner and Awards Ceremony where the partner organizations and sponsors were recognized as well as high performing members of the organization were celebrated.
In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, young people need to become more involved right from their immediate environment. The approach of PSN-YPG Lagos is driven towards creating awareness about the SDGs among the young pharmacists, encouraging professional collaborations, giving them a platform for implementation and propelling them towards taking action. These steps are important and essential if the sustainable development goals are to be realized.
