ACCESS TO PHARMACISTS IS ACCESS TO HEALTH

The World Pharmacists Day is a day set aside by
the International Pharmaceutical Federation; FIP
(FIP is the global federation representing three
million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists)
to remind the society of the invaluable service
performed by Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical
scientists as integral part of the health team. The
inaugural World Pharmacists Day, took place on 25
September 2010.
Last year, it was 'simplifying your medicine use, no matter how complex'. Link below.
www.nairaland.com/1452895/world-pharmacy-day-simplifying-medicines

This year, World Pharmacists Day is set on the
theme Pharmacists – Access to Pharmacists is Access to Health.

The pharmacist, as an integral part of healthcare,
is strategically positioned to help you manage your
health. From prevention to timely intervention and
continued management or care, your pharmacist is
there for you.

Worldwide, the community pharmacy is the first
point of call for healthcare needs and the
pharmacist indisputably the most readily
accessible healthcare professional. Dynamism is the mantra of professional courses in this century. As such, the profession has evolved into more patient-centred care than products. Expanded roles and collaborative care with other health professionals is no doubt important.
Services you can get from your pharmacist in
Nigeria:

• Counselling
o Your pharmacist offers you professional advice
on the best way to use your medication to get the
most out of it while minimizing or eliminating
(where possible) the adverse effect(s)

• Medication Therapy Management (MTM)
o Your pharmacist can work with you and other
healthcare professionals to solve your medication-
related problems like over or under dose,
unattended-to conditions, exaggerated conditions,
conflicting medications etc.

• Disease prevention strategies such as
o Hand washing – proper hand-washing
techniques or use of the right hand-sanitizer
(where there is no access to water and soap) to
kill germs including viruses like ebola.
o Use of insecticide- treated bed nets, mosquito
repellants, insecticides etc. to prevent malaria

• Immunization
o There are about 27 vaccine-preventable
diseases. Everybody (the young, the old, the ill and
the healthy) all need one vaccine or the other.
Your pharmacist can help you to know the vaccine
you need, access it and get it administered. Please
ask your pharmacist.
• Rapid tests for Cholesterol, Blood Pressure,
Sugar, Malaria, Hepatitis , etc.
• HIV counselling and testing

• Family planning
o Your pharmacist can provide you with
information on the best ways to space your
children, assist with sex-selection at conception,
assist with conception, care of pregnancy etc.

• Family wellness
o Your pharmacist can help you to promote the
well-being of your family

• Pharmaceutical care for chronic conditions like:
o Hypertension
o Diabetes
o Asthma

• Medication Use Review (MUR)
o Your pharmacist can help you solve medication-
related problems like poor adherence, unnecessary
or avoidable costs, unnecessary medications etc.

• Drug Information (DI)
o You can ask your pharmacist any question on
your medication, he will give you expert
information.

• Documentation of your medical matters for
continuum of care
o Your pharmacist will help you keep a record of
all your medications and interventions thereby
making it easier for other healthcare professionals
to participate effectively in your management and
make you an active participant in managing your
health. For instance, you can get a copy of Medical
Diary from your pharmacist.
• Online consulting.
• Home delivery
• Home visits

• Referral to other Healthcare Providers
o Your pharmacist knows when to invite in other
healthcare professionals into your management
and is well-trained to refer you promptly and
appropriately.

• Public health services and campaign
o Your pharmacist can proffer community
interventions through health care services targeted
at the community e.g. group immunization
services, community health talks, health talks in
schools, churches and mosques etc.

• Customized First Aid kits
o Your pharmacist can help you equip your First
Aid kit or box to suit you, taking into consideration
your family, environment, medical condition, work
etc.
• Training for healthcare providers and care givers
on Rational Use of Medicines, Medication Errors,
etc.
Visit registered pharmacies to access health. How
do you recognize registered pharmacies?
Registered pharmacies have registered pharmacy
emblems the display of which is mandatory.

For many years, FIP has recognized that access to
medicines is a major issue in many parts of the
world and pharmacists play a key role throughout
the whole supply chain towards improving access
to medicines, drug information and refuting myths
about drug Use.
According to the new FIP’s President Dr Carmen
Peña : “Access to health is not just an economic
issue. It is also about access to medicines, which
has big research and evidence elements, access to
correct information and advice, and access to
education. The current Ebola emergency provides a
good illustration. Research is vital if a vaccine or
cure for this deadly disease is to be found.
Moreover, it is essential for people to have good
information. We have heard, for example, reports
that people in Nigeria have died because they were
led to believe that drinking salt water would
prevent or cure infection. We know that
pharmacists in affected countries are offering
reliable advice and playing an important part in
education and dispelling such myths.”
FIP’s CEO and general secretary Mr Luc Besançon
added that World Pharmacists Day is a good
opportunity to highlight the impact and added
value of the pharmacy profession and its role in
improving health to authorities, other professions
and the media as well as to the general public.
Indeed in 2012, a study quantified that 500 billion
USD could be saved every year while responsible
use of medicines was achieved and pharmacists
have been identified as a strong and under-utilized
asset to achieve responsible use of medicines.
The perfect combination is therefore access to
medicines and pharmaceutical expertise, or in
other words, to pharmacists.
In 2010, it has been estimated that 13% of the
visits at a community pharmacy are concluded
with advice only (and without sales of any
products), highlighting that pharmacists are the
most accessible and trusted healthcare
professionals in many countries throughout the
world.
FIP calls on you to celebrate our profession this
September and to use World Pharmacists Day to
promote the valuable role Pharmacist play — and
could play — in bringing about great health for all

Challenges Faced by Pharmacist in Africa

Imagine how pharmaceutical manufacturers would
go through the rigour of getting potent drugs in
place for the wellness of patients and some
unscrupulous elements would travel out to
countries to fake them.
In some cases, they will even mislabel the
products, thereby putting the lives of innocent
people at risk. Where a particular medicine is
50mg, these fakers often add another ‘0’ to make
it 500mg. An innocent doctor sees it and
recommends the dosage, as part of his
prescription.
This perhaps explains why so many people have
died, and are still dying, because of adverse drug
reaction, overdose or other mishaps.
Consequently, many medical professionals and
pharmaceutical manufacturers have been
penalized, while the real perpetrators of drug
counterfeiting are at large, but utilising the services
of the available Pharmacist around Us would
curtail if not eliminate this.
Patent medicine dealers today in Africa recruit
people for apprenticeship, after which they begin to
see themselves as qualified pharmacists. In their
quest to make quick money, these self-acclaimed
drug dispensers are known to carry out diagnosis
and prescription with impunity.

Future of the Present Pharmacist

The earlier we recognize that Pharmacist are
becoming increasingly accessible the better
because over the past 40 years the Pharmacists
role has changed from that of compounder and
dispenser to that of “drug therapy manager”. This
involves responsibilities to ensure that wherever
drugs are provided and used, quality products are
selected, procured and stored distributed,
dispensed and administered so that they contribute
to the health of patients and not to their harm. The
scope of pharmacy practice now includes patient
centered care with all the cognitive functions of
counseling, providing drug information and
monitoring drug therapy.
It is in the additional role of managing drug therapy
that pharmacists can now make a vital contribution
to patient care.

WHY EVERY CITIZEN OF AFRICA MUST HAVE AND
KNOW HIS PHARMACIST
Given the evolving role of the Pharmacist in
Healthcare, the WHO Consultancy agreed that must
possess specific knowledge, attitudes, skills and
behavior in support of their roles.
The WHO Consultancy brands contemporary and
future pharmacists as a “SEVEN STAR
PHARMACIST”. This branding becomes important
because:
- A PHARMACIST IS A CARE GIVER:- The
pharmacist must provide caring services, whether
these services are clinical, analytical, technological
or regulatory, the pharmacist must be comfortable
interacting with individuals well population, the
pharmacist must view his or her practice as
integrated and continuous with those of the
healthcare system.
- A PHARMACIST IS A DECISION MAKER:- The
appropriate, efficacious and cost effective use of
resources.
- A PHARMACIST IS A COMMUNICATOR:-
The pharmacist is in an ideal position between the
physician and patient. As such he has to be
confident while interacting with other health
professionals and the public.
- A PHARMACIST IS A LEADER:- Whether the
pharmacist finds himself in multidisciplinary caring
situations or in areas where other healthcare
providers are in short supply, he is obligated to
assume leadership position in the overall welfare of
the community.
- A PHARMACIST IS A MANAGER:- The
pharmacist must effectively manage resources.
- A PHARMACIST IS A LIFELONG LEARNER:-
The pharmacist must learn how to learn
- A PHARMACIST IS A TEACHER: – The
pharmacist has a responsibility to assist with the
education and training of future generation of
pharmacists

I Wish to State that having the above named roles
to Play are indicators that Pharmacist are waiting
to be accessed by every African, so don’t under
utilise your Pharmacist hence forth, Call him on
Phone every time you need Medication
Information,talk to him on social media, Introduce
Your Physician to him to enhance your health
outcome, make sure he knows you by name and
has your contact….Disturb him with medications
related issues if you can, and YOU MUST KNOW
YOUR PHARMACIST BY NAME because, “ACCESS
TO PHARMACIST IS ACCESS TO HEALTH”

Mods, Obinoscopy pls help move this to FP.

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