The population of Pakistan is at risk from various health problems. WHO reported about 55% of country’s overall deaths were attributable to Non Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) in 2013 which is a 9% increase since the 2008 estimate. This is a serious problem, and is likely to worsen with time due to the population explosion, climate change and changing disease patterns. A contributing factor to this volume of disease and disability is the issue around patient management. What is also concerning is the increasing mal practices of excessive medicine usage that include self-medication especially with antibiotics and steroid drugs. This has increased antibiotic resistance and has serious implications. Drug interaction and availability of spurious medicines poses immense threats to the health of people. The lives that are lost by fake prescriptions and medicinal error are not documented anywhere. Cultural issues too, like medical pluralism hinder adherence to a single medical system which ultimately has a major impact on population health. All these and other related health problems put pressure on healthcare professionals and there is a need to respond proactively.
Health systems worldwide constantly evolve in ways that engage different healthcare professionals to adapt to meet health challenges. In this regard, pharmacists have also been given new responsibilities and authorities all over the world. Community pharmacies are being modified where people are counseled more often than before about their health issues. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, a community pharmacist’s role is not very well established despite the fact that they are capable of delivering. In such a situation, when the country is under an enormous burden of different disease epidemics and healthcare providers are already overworked; community pharmacists must realize the importance of profession and take up responsibilities to share these burdens with other healthcare professionals, not only to help in preventing these problems but also in the provision of quality healthcare services.
Community pharmacists are in a position to make the most impact, as they have firsthand interaction with people. By expanding their role beyond dispensing of medicines they are in an ideal situation to counsel people about their health issues. They must engage in activities that are part of health education, health promotion and health communication. They can make a contribution in improving people’s lives by increasing their health related knowledge and empowering them to modify their lifestyle. Promoting healthy lifestyles would take this a step further as it aims to improve health by increasing control over behavior. This entails advocacy, using events such as World Pharmacy Day and tools such as the social media to highlight the change needed in the socio-economic and physical environment to bring a desired outcome. All of this would be facilitated by health communication as the information must be delivered in the most effective way. Cultural sensitivities need to be considered and local health perspectives must be clearly understood. This proposed triangle of health education, health promotion and health communication could be seen as a new functioning model for the pharmacists working at community pharmacies.
Activities mentioned above would not demand making new health policies but in fact they require a professional realization of what could be done within the existing circumstances. Initiation must be taken by pharmacists themselves and they should incorporate these activities as part and parcel of their daily job responsibilities. Moreover, they should take it upon themselves to be innovative and take the lead to open new avenues to convert pharmacies into effective health counseling centers in Pakistan.
Muhammad Uzair Afzal
The author is a public health professional. He graduated as a pharmacist and has earned a postgraduate degree in health research from University of Heidelberg, Germany. His key interests revolve around health system strengthening and better control of Non Communicable Disease (NCDs) in Pakistan. He is currently working as a researcher in the Policy Advocacy and Research (PAR) department at Heartfile, NGO-Health think tank.
Rita Robert says
It is apparent that some people still think pharmacists are sales people in cosmetics and aren’t fully aware of what a pharmacist job entails. Their real role is that they too are health care professionals. We should all promote the fact that “Access to pharmacists is access to health”.
farkhanda Nahid Pirzada says
This is really a informative piece about the new responsibilities which a pharmacist can perform by giving their valuable advice to people who bring their prescription and buy the medicines. Due to scarcity of medical professionals, patients are usually not briefed about the usage and after effects of medicines. If a community pharmacist provides some health care advice to prescription holders, it would be a great service from their end and of course it will solve a number of other problems too.