Kono Benefits from Pharmaceutical Education

The Eastern city of Koidu in the Kono District is the latest to benefit from the current rounds of continuous professional education for pharmacists conducted by the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Sierra Leone.

The programme which took place on 7th of November saw a congregation of Pharmacists to benefit from the continuous education programme instituted to  ensure that all practicing Pharmacists in the country be abreast with development in the practice of pharmacy and understand current trend that will help improve the contribution of pharmacists and pharmaceutical service delivery the public health of the country.

In the opening presentation, Head of the Education Committee at the Pharmaceutical Society in the country Ade J. P. Johnson spoke comprehensively on the subject “Medicine Marketing and Promotion, where he dealt with among other things; the personalities of the Medical Representative when it comes to marketing medicines and pharmaceuticals which he said is very primary in any promotion or marketing drive in the professions. He labeled the pharmacy profession as noble and must always be held in high regard by the professionals in terms personality as the job according to him is a life saving one. He demanded that in marketing, one has to be honest, polite and friendly which he described as the primordial aspects of professional marketing in the pharmaceutical world.

The education committee Chairman also dilated on “Unethical Practices in Marketing” pharmaceutical products on which he admonished his colleagues to pay great attention to if they should be regarded as professionals in any way. He told his colleagues regarding unethical practices that “giving brown envelop to Doctors to encourage prescribing in ones interest is very wrong, as that constitute stage-management of the role of the doctor in executing its rightful duty towards the patient.

The Education Committee chairman spoke on factors influencing Product Marketing, time Management and Marketing in his much applauded presentation for pharmacists in Bo, Pujehun, Bonthe and Moyamba Districts in the South. 

Pharmacist Christine Cole made a presentation on “Drug Safety in Pregnancy” which she described as a very important aspect in the practice of pharmacy owing to the fact that the safety of both mother and child is involved during pregnancy and as such a very delicate case to deal with. She impressed that “medication safety encompasses the effects of the intrinsic risks of medicines…” which therefore means that special care must be taken during pregnancy. She added that “the use of medicines is further complicated in certain physiological states like pregnancy, lactation, infancy and old age in which conditions care must be taken in the administering of drugs s he told his audience.

Christine Cole had it that “no medicine is entirely without side effects which explain the inevitable need for care to be taken when it comes to pregnancy. She told colleagues in the Eastern Region that the development of knowledge in understanding the use of drugs during pregnancy has been quite slow in comparison to other areas of therapeutics due to what she referred to as the difficulties in testing new products in pregnant women because of ethical restrictions.

Speaking on drug use during pregnancy, she alerted that only about 8% of pregnant women need permanent drug treatment due to their chronic diseases such as epilepsy, diabetes mellitus, bronchia asthma and hypertension. On the Risk Perception of Drug Safety In Pregnancy, Christine Cole said “the perception of risk is associated with a drug can modify a health workers prescribing pattern, saying that Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technicians are the custodians of medicines and play a key role in providing information about the benefits and risks of medicine use to members of the health care team and the general public. She acknowledged that a good number of women are aware of the risks of medicine use, but that a large percentage exist who do not know about such risks.

Concluding she said, “concerns for potential hard that can be caused by medicine should spur the health care delivery team to aim at having a better understanding of them, and seek to reduce the occurrence of medication risks while the same time maximizing its benefits”.

In a lecture given by Pharmacist Peter Bai James on Medication Error, he said the figures are scary, taking a bad toll on patients, families, and the health care system. He stated that according to WHO, health care errors affects one in every ten patients around the world and that studies indicate that one in every ten patients suffer an adverse event while hospitalized and under medication.

Talking on the common causes of medication error the pharmacist said, poor communication between patient and health care service provider is a major cause, methods of drug and medical administration he said is another problem too. Peter Bai James also noted the problem of transcribing, dispensing; monitoring and compliance as other major factors causing medication error. Citing ways to prevent medication error, he suggested that there be improved  system lurked with standard processes and task, improvement be made on prescribing skills, the practice of good dispensing procedures and allowing patients to take part in his/her health care.

Speaking on communication, counseling and compliance in Pharmaceutical Chief of the Inspection Department at the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone James P. Komeh told colleagues present for the occasion that they should establish direct professional relationship with their patients, monitor the patent’s  medication and be alert to drug problems and adverse effects; routinely check on patient’s compliance to drug regimen and provide them with appropriate medication related information and counseling.   He said communication and appropriate counseling is a big problem and for it to be overcome, Pharmacists as professionals need to be asking relevant questions, use appropriate language that both patient and pharmacist may be able understand, admonished them to be polite and friendly, ensure that information conveyed by both sides is correct, relevant and reliable and up to date. He noted that the quality of communication depends more on the interaction than the duration.

On counseling he noted that ‘counseling is the sympathetic interaction between a pharmacy professional and patients which he said may go beyond conveyance of straight forward information about medicine, when and how to use it. He therefore advised all and sundry that they listen with keen interest whenever a patient is saying anything pertaining to his/her health.

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