LAHORE, Sept 24: Treated as trusted health professionals in advanced countries like US and UK, pharmacists are the most neglected specialists in Pakistan.

The World Pharmacists Day is being internationally observe on Thursday (today) with the slogan , ‘Access to pharmacists is access to health’ .

Though they are internationally considered drug scientists, local pharmacists are being taken as either dispensers, receptionists or salesmen.

Deploring the situation, Syed Khalid Saeed Bukhari, a senior pharmacist and senior vice president of Pakistan Pharmacist Association (PPA), told Dawn it seemed the public sector health and medical institutions had no place for pharmacists.

Mr Bukhari said pharmacists were health professionals who studied and practiced pharmacy science for five years. “A qualified pharmacist plays a critical role in manufacturing and management of drugs and diseases, besides rendering services at community pharmacies, distribution setups, hospitals, industries and legislative bodies and forums”, he said.

Quoting statistics from a latest report, he said presently 25,000 pharmacists (70pc of them females) were struggling for government jobs all over the country. Of them, 15,000 were available in Punjab, 5,000 in Sindh, 3,000 in KP and 2,000 in Balochistan, he said.

He regretted that only 560 pharmacists were at Punjab government’s strength and 550 at the disposal of Balochistan government. The situation in Sindh and KP was more pathetic where only 150 and 100 pharmacists, respectively, were serving in the government departments, he added.

Mr Bukhari said the number of pharmacists available in the public sector was desperately low as compared to the ratio recommended worldwide. “According to international standards, at least one pharmacist should be available for 10 beds at a government hospital”, he said, adding that these pharmacists should be appointed in three shifts.

He said according to their job description, the medicines must be advised to the patients with the consultation of a pharmacist which could reduce the chances of medical error. Presently medical error was the fourth leading factor of mortality in the UK after deaths by road accidents, cardiac diseases and cancer.

Quoting a survey report, he said Pakistan was at the top among the countries where cost of medication/prescription and polypharmacy was alarmingly high. “Moreover, our country is also at the top worldwide for percentage of branded medicines use”, Mr Bukhari said.

Unfortunately, he said, the country was the second after Egypt with regard to drug overuse and unsafe injection practices.

He said that being custodian of drugs, as per law, the pharmacist plays a critical role when complex dosages were prescribed or self-medication for minor ailments was desired.

“Pharmacists have an important role in giving advice to patients for appropriate use of medicines”, he said.

They also help the patient by choosing the best medicines and avoiding their side effects.

He said pharmacists had a supportive role and they helped the doctors in determining the best drug or non-drug therapy for a patient’s specific disorder keeping in view their past and present illness, age, gender, family history, etc. They also play a key role in advising the patients with regard to drug allergies and possible adverse drug reactions.

He said the government could also improve EPI coverage hiring pharmacists. “Since pharmacies are often located in a residential area and in shopping places like grocery stores, the pharmacists are generally considered the most accessible members of the healthcare team”, he said.

According to a survey carried out in Pakistan, a person visited a local pharmacy 8 to12 times a year. He said the pharmacists available at these pharmacies must be engaged for EPI coverage, for health advice, for monitoring sugar level of diabetic patients and such other health practices by bringing these pharmacies under regulations and using them as ‘healthcare centres’.

Mr Bukhari said such pharmacists could provide services such as immunisations, asthma care, blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol screening, diabetes management, anti-smoking consultation, bone density scans for osteoporosis screening, anti-coagulation management etc.

Published in Dawn, September 25th , 2014