Pharmacists:
Caring for you
Dr. R. S. Thakur
President
Federation of
Indian Pharmacists’ Organisations
Email:fipo123@rediffmail.com
The theme of
World Pharmacists Day (25th
September 2016), is “Pharmacists: Caring for you” as selected by the
International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in an announcement on 8th March
2016 at The Hague.
The theme
emphasizes the vital role of pharmacist in patient care. Every outcome of
health care is dependent upon medicines, whether used for prophylaxis,
treatment, mitigation or prevention of diseases. Without medicine there is no
miracle in health care. The modern medicines are highly potent and also
hazardous, if used indiscriminately. This emphasizes the role of pharmacists in
assuring safety and efficacy of the medicines prescribed and used.
Keeping
in mind this vital role of pharmacists, in the changing scenario, importance of
“Pharmaceutical
care” was realized as back as in 1990.1
“Pharmaceutical
care is a philosophy of practice in which the patient is the primary
beneficiary of the pharmacist’s actions. Pharmaceutical care focuses the
attitudes, behaviours, commitments, concerns, ethics, functions, knowledge, responsibilities
and skills of the pharmacist on the provision of drug therapy with the goal of
achieving definite therapeutic outcomes toward patient health and quality of
life.”
This role of
Pharmacists in health care is very well appreciated and authenticated by World
Health Organisation in their document “The role of Pharmacist in the health
care system” 2
This
document exhorts as under:
Procurement,
storage and distribution of drugs
The management of
drug procurement, storage and distribution should be the responsibility of
pharmacists, and adequate facilities should be provided.
Drug
Information
Pharmacists in
government should be encouraged and given support to establish National drug
information systems concerned with all aspects of the nature and use of
medicines. The information should be produced in a way suitable for
dissemination to health professionals and the public. Such system should be
linked with hospital information systems, as regards both receiving and
transmitting information.
Community
and hospital pharmacy
As regards the
role of community and hospital pharmacists in the global perspective, the
document exhorts as under:
- Physicians and pharmacists
within communities and hospitals should work together to establish common
approaches to the choice of medicines to be used, and the role of
pharmacists in advising the physician and other healthcare professionals
should be developed in community care as well as in hospitals.
- The pharmacist should play a
central role in the provision of advice and information to patients and
the general public on the use of medicines, and the pharmacist should
cooperate effectively with prescribers to ensure a common approach to
patients in the provision of advice and information.
- The pharmacist should
participate in a multidisciplinary approach to promotion of rational use
of medicines.
- Pharmacists should adequately
inform patients and the general public about unwanted effects of
medicines, and should monitor such untoward effects and their consequences
in collaboration with other health care professionals and the appropriate
authorities.
- Pharmacists should continue to
contribute to the promotion of healthy lifestyle and to the prevention of
illness by, inter alia, participating in screening activities, such
as for example, blood pressure measurement and determination of blood
sugar.
- Pharmacists should provide
appropriate and adequate services and levels of support to the community
through, for example, domiciliary services, services to Nursing homes and
aspects of primary health care.
- To meet changing needs, there
should be progressive adaptation of the legal requirements relating to the
equipment, size, functioning, staffing and distribution of pharmacies.
In
view of the above objectives of pharmaceutical care:
(i)
Pharmacists ensure the
quality of medicines and products they dispense to the patients, by way of
proper storage and preservation of medicines and medical devices;
(ii)
Pharmacists verify
/audit rationale of the prescribed medicines, checks and cross examines the
medication record /history, before dispensing the prescribed medicines, to
ensure safety and efficacy of therapy;
(iii)
Pharmacists provide
appropriate and adequate counseling and advise the patient of medicine related
precautions, and monitors/evaluates therapeutic response;
(iv)
Pharmacists also monitor
proper utilization of medicines and analyses the feed back for predicting and
managing adverse drug reactions;
(v)
Pharmacists treat minor
ailments with non-prescription/OTC medicines;
(vi)
Pharmacists participate
in the health promotion campaign through public awareness relating to hygiene,
infection control, preventive measure, rational use of medicines, nutrition
etc. so that people can lead healthy life.
These reflections
on the duties and responsibilities of pharmacist state their service mission as
patient care through safe and effective medication. Let us all pursue this
mission with zeal and commitment to ensure healthy, prosperous and developed
India.
References
1.
Hepler, CD, Strand LM.
Opportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical care. Am J. Hosp Pharm.
1990; 47: 533-543.
2.
World Health
Organization. The role of Pharmacist in the health care system.
WHO/PHARM/94.569 page 30-31.
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