The Ministry of Health on Monday, September 26, 2022, celebrated the World Pharmacists Day at the ministry in Congo Town. The observance was held under the theme, “Pharmacists United in Action for a Healthier World”, appreciating and promoting pharmaceutical practices globally, urging pharmacists to take action to improve the public health.
The World Pharmacist Day is celebrated every year on the 25th of September. It was founded in 1912 by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), aimed at supporting the key strategic objective of the International Pharmaceutical Federation on advancing the pharmaceutical practice on a global level.
Speaking during the occasion, Dr. Innocent Ibegbunam said the celebration of this day is an opportunity to promote the pharmacy profession beyond dispensing or sale of medicines, and is also an opportunity to continue the highlight of the central role that pharmacists play in the healthcare delivery value chain in the interest of the patients and for the general public health service provision at national and global levels.
According to him, pharmacists need to take concrete action to ensure the full implementation of policies and processes that have been the major limitation, and is calling for action because the great health policies and processes laid out in Liberia for health professional practices and to review and update these policies and processes to improve the public health practice and overall health of the people.
He said the action stems from the professional dimension of how pharmacists in Liberia are contributing towards promoting the image of the profession and practice of pharmacy in line with the Hippocratic Oath they take at graduation, and support of the national health development agenda of the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Ibegbunam said the ineffectiveness in providing adequate and cost-effective health services to the population depends on pharmacists and, as such, should create more awareness to reduce self-medication, especially with antibiotics, to put away utility in the health services for patients within Liberia.
He urged pharmacists to wake up and take action as professionals in promoting public health, assist other health professionals and patients who depend on them to have update to information on medicines and medicinal products for pharmaceutical intervention in Liberia.
He disclosed that they need to do more during clinical ward rounds and therapeutical meetings in hospital settings to ensure that doctors, nurses, physician assistants and other health workers are equipped with the latest information on pharmaceutical care. “This is vital to ensure that prescription practices are in line with latest treatment guidelines. We also need to do more to enlighten the public on appropriate use of medicines, and need to obtain prescriptions and minimize self-medication with antibiotics and other prescription-only medicines,” he asserted.
“The era of counting and dispensing medicines through the window with the statement “take one tablet in the morning and one in the evening” without further education to the patients on the expected side effects, and also giving patients opportunity to ask questions on the medicines, should be discouraged in modern pharmacy practice,” he emphasized.
He further called on the Liberia Pharmacy Board and the Ministry of Health to play their roles in promoting the image of the profession in Liberia and in serving the general public.