National conference: Pharmacology, now an endangered profession

Patient care pharmacists being neglected due to lack of job opportunities: experts.


Sehrish Wasif April 17, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


The number of pharmacists in hospitals of the capital city is now below international requirements and those set by the Drug Act 1976.


Currently there is only one pharmacist in Polyclinic Hospital, a hospital with 570 beds, while Pakistan Institute of Medical sciences (Pims), with 1,000 beds, employs 10 pharmacists.

According to the Drug Act 1967, there should be one pharmacist for every 50 beds, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends there should be 1 pharmacist for every 2,000 people in a country for optimal healthcare.

Chief of Pharmacy at Shifa International Hospital, Shafqat Hamdani, stated this at the inaugural session of two-day “1st National Conference of Patient Care Pharmacist 2011” held here on Saturday.

The conference aims to amplify the role of clinical pharmacy in healthcare system and to elucidate the importance of clinical pharmacists in achieving patient safety and quality of services.

Hamdani, who is also the chief organizer of the conference, said, “Patient care pharmacists are being neglected in our country due to lack of job opportunities.”

With a minimum requirement of 20,000 pharmacists, there are 8,102 pharmacists working in the country. Of these, 2,836 work in the public sector, 5,023 in the private settings, while 243 work in NGOs, he said.

He said that around 50 per cent of all medicines in the country are incorrectly sold or supplied. “Healthcare cannot be provided adequately without medicines and a competent pharmacy workforce that supplies these medicines,” he added.

According to the data available, there is one doctor available for 1,475 people, one nurse for 3,644 patients and one dentist for 21,362 people. “The figures [show that the number of professionals in these fields] are really insufficient to cater the need of the increasing population of the country,” said Hamdani. However there is no data available to specify the number of people dependent on each pharmacist, or deaths caused by wrong medication given to patients, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Director General Health Dr Asad Hafeez said the low number of pharmacists in hospitals in Islamabad is “truly alarming”. He urged for “restructuring of the pharmacy setup” in Pakistan as the “final step” in ensuring prompt medical treatment to people.

He stressed promotion of research in the field of pharmacy and advised that pharmacy graduates be directly involved with the treatment of patients. “Pharmacy is an important pillar of the health system, which has remained neglected in Pakistan,” he added.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2011.

COMMENTS (1)

faiza naseer | 12 years ago | Reply this is a greatest step for the promotion of clinical pharmacist's importance and need in our society and also the deserving rank according to the senerio. but there is also some other problems, among all these the pay package is very low. to live in this country with this pay package is unbearable.
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