Chioma Umeha
Pharmacists under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Society
of Nigeria (PSN) have condemned disharmony and rivalry in the Nigerian
healthcare sector, linking the development with the demand for the
establishment of the office of Chief Medical Adviser “Surgeon General” to the
president and creation of a national healthcare commission.
Pharm. Ahmed
Yakasai, President, PSN who spoke for the body enumerated other reasons
which causes rivalry, including,
Matters arising from Teaching Hospital Act and opposition to appointment of
other health professionals as directors in Federal Health Institutions.
The rest, he said are, establishment of postgraduate
colleges for other health professionals, and the obvious bias against health
professionals other than doctors especially in the reflected areas.
Pharm. Yakasai, who presented a paper recently, at the annual scientific
conference and exposition of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and
Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) titled: “Synergy among Healthcare Practitioners: Advocacy to
Respective Agencies for Collaborative Practice in Nigeria”, stressed on synergy in a successful
healthcare delivery system.
Insisting on the need for collaboration at the event which
held weekend, Pharm Yakasai said; “Synergy among healthcare practitioners is a
must and not an option in achieving optimum safe quality care for the patients.
When healthcare practitioners with different complimentary
skills cooperate, come together and work hand in hand in the interest of the
patients they always achieve better results for the patients, he added.
“The outcomes achieved due to synergy among the healthcare
practitioners are far better than when each healthcare practitioner works in
isolation. That is synergy. Even drugs work better when they work
synergistically which one drug increases the other’s effectiveness.
“For example; Effect on the same cellular system by two
different antibiotics like the Penicillin damages the cell wall of gram
positive bacteria and improves the penetrations of aminoglycosides.”
Comparing recent development in the healthcare industry to
what obtains in the past, the PSN boss said there is an obvious change in
healthcare delivery nowadays due to influx of knowledge on the parts of
patients and practitioners, which keeps the scope of healthcare expanding by
the day.
“In the past, as it relates to the care process, healthcare
practitioners were primarily nurses, pharmacists and doctors. Now the term
healthcare practitioner encompasses a wide range of other people including
other professionals.
“Not only has the number of medical subspecialties
significantly increased over the last century (from 14 in 1927 to 103 in 2000),
but the number of non-medical care practitioners has also increased. Patients
too have to a certain extent become ‘practitioners’ in their own healthcare.
“Moreover, not only do current practitioners role need to be
specified relative to the new care processes and operating systems, but
entirely new roles – perhaps system architecture for example , need to be
developed and reimbursed,” he stated.
The PSN President also noted that collaboration among
healthcare practitioners would promote patient-centred care, enhancement of
better communication, comprehensive patient care, better coordination of
patient treatment plans, and it empowers team members.
A major high point of the annual scientific conference and
exposition was the decoration of Pharm. Yakasai with the NAPPSA Distinguished
Service Award, at Embassy Suites-Concord Hotel, Concord, North Carolina, USA.
He was recognised for his advocacy and tenacity for Pharmacy
Practice in Nigeria.
