By Chioma Umeha
The continued sophistication and inventory of
activities in the healthcare supply chain has placed pharmacists at a very
critical position in the delivery of healthcare services in any country.
Pharmacists, in the general term, are healthcare
professionals who are entrusted with the pivotal role of dispensing medicines.
But, pharmacists under the auspices of
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), has dismissed the generic definition
of their roles in healthcare industry, saying it is not limited to mere
dispensation of drugs.
Buttressing their argument, they said that a study
of modern day healthcare supply chain shows the duties of pharmacists which
have gone beyond dispensation of drugs.
Explaining further, Pharm Ahmed Yakasai,
President, PSN, stressed: “This is understandably so given that there is more
to drug distribution in the supply chain than meets the eyes.
Yakasai also said that this is evident because
effective healthcare services cannot be practiced in a place devoid of
efficient drug management and this is where pharmacists have a huge role to
play.
Stating this in his speech at this year’s World
Pharmacy Day, themed, ‘Caring for you’, a copy of which was made available to
Independent, Yakasai, stressed that this is largely to the peculiar nature of
drug administration and the attendant effects of non-compliance to rules and
procedures.
The PSN boss further worried that there is an
urgent need for thorough professionalism in the supply and dispensing of drugs
and other healthcare services.
According to him, pharmacists are essential in
providing thorough professionalism in the supply and dispense of drugs and
other healthcare services.
The PSN boss restated that the pharmacist role is
essential to the day-to-day administration of healthcare services and therefore
eminently qualified for many reasons.
For instance, he reasoned that the pharmacists
understands the principles of quality assurance as they are applied to
medicines and appreciate the intricacies of the distribution chain and the
principles of efficient stock-keeping and stock turnover.
Other reasons he gave are: “They are familiar with
the pricing structures applied to medicinal products that obtain within the
markets in which they operate;
“They are the custodians of much technical
information on the products available on their domestic market;
“They are able to provide informed advice to
patients with minor illnesses and often to those with more chronic conditions
who are on established maintenance therapy,” Yakasai added.
Speaking further, Yakasai said: “The distinctive
expertise of the pharmacists provide members of the profession with a suitable
background to assume diverse responsibilities in both public administration and
drug manufacture and supply.”
This lends credence to the fact that the duties of
pharmacists within the healthcare circle goes beyond drug dispensing, the PSN
President said.
He said: “Pharmacists in the present day
healthcare system engage in drug regulation and control. They also participate
in the formulation and ensuring quality control of pharmaceutical products as
well as inspection and assessment of drug manufacturing facilities, among
others.
These are the core areas pharmacists have shown
competence, and therefore superintends in the provision of facilities for drug
manufacturing companies in some countries, he pointed.
He further explained that based on their
activities, pharmacists serve as members of a multidisciplinary team, rather
than in an autonomous capacity
Yakasai said: “At various levels in any nation’s
drug registration and regulation, pharmacists function to ensure desirability
and functionality.”
For instance, he noted that regulatory agencies
ensure that all pharmaceutical products conform to acceptable standards of
quality, safety and efficacy; and that all premises and practices employed to
manufacture, store and distribute these products comply with requirements until
such time as they are delivered to the end user.
“Incidentally, the administrative and technical
responsibilities of these agencies fall within the ambit of pharmaceutical jobs
and are directed towards quality assurance,” he said, adding, ‘this is found
mostly in industrial pharmacy.”
Also, Yakasai said that the specialised knowledge
of pharmacists on the management and properties of medicines in the
increasingly sophisticated healthcare sector has also made them immediate
partners to doctors.
He further observed that this makes a pharmacist a
source of independent information about therapeutic options and about the
consequences – both positive and negative – of treatment.
According to him, this brings the pharmacist
closer to patients in the community as accessible dispensers, not only of
medicines, but health-related information.
He said apart from providing informed advice to
patients with minor illnesses and often to those with more chronic conditions
and are on established maintenance therapy, their specialty also underscores
their role in health care delivery.
The PSN boss said, “I want to enjoin consumers of
health to continue if they have and if not begin to maximally utilise the
peculiar expertise of their pharmacists at community, hospital, industrial or
academic levels.
“Your pharmacist is an invaluable source of
information on all medicines. It is your right to tap this huge reserve and
potential.
“Pharmacists’ specialised knowledge of the
management and properties of medicines in an increasingly sophisticated health
care environment brings them closer to prescribing doctors as a source of
independent information about therapeutic options and about the consequences –
both positive and negative – of treatment.
“It also brings them closer to patients in the community
as readily accessible dispensers not only of medicines but also of
health-related information.”
He therefore advised that pharmacists should be
given their deserved attention and recognition in the society.
He said: “In less affluent settings, inadequacies
in the provision of primary health care are attributable to shortcomings within
the drug distribution chain.
“Only when the pharmacist has been accepted as a
vital member of the health care team can the necessary supporting services be
organised with the professionalism that they demand,” Yakasai stressed.
Corroborating, Olumide Akintayo, immediate past President of the PSN
explained that following development of specific and potent synthetic drugs,
the pharmacists’ responsibility have now shifted towards the utilization of
scientific knowledge in the proper use of modern medicines and the protection
of the public against dangers that are inherent in their use.
Akintayo said: “This is one area the public will
have to take adequate advantage of pharmaceutical knowledge because so many
people have died due to poor drug administration and consumption.”
Akintayo said that pharmacists are today found in
virtually all areas of life requiring proper production, supervision and
administration of drugs to end users.
Such places as regulatory agencies, communities,
hospitals, industries, academic and training facilities where their services
are required for effective management of issues related to drug and training.
For instance, community pharmacists are the ones
most accessible to the public.
There are also pharmacists in hospital who have
greater opportunity to interface and interact with patients. Hospital
pharmacists have the privileged of controlling the procurement and
manufacturing of hospital’s drug and will fully offer advice when necessary.
In some countries, governments have made laws that
certain positions in the drug manufacturing industries will only be held by
pharmacists. They are called industry pharmacists.
On account of these, Akintayo insisted that the
role of pharmacists in medical industrial chain is multi-prong and
scientifically relevant to effective drug administration and control in any
country.
