AfricaPress-Tanzania: WITH Covid-19 outbreak prompting high demand for essential painkillers and antibiotics, pharmacists in the country have been reminded to adhere to professional codes of conduct to avoid any further effects.
A recent observation has shown that quite a good number of people are purchasing painkillers at large quantities as a preliminary medication for headache and coughing which are among the symptoms of Covid-19.
Among the drugs that are currently in high demand are Panadol, Paracetamol, Aspirin, Amoxicillin and Vitamin C.
This is despite the fact pharmacists insist that still there is no drug that has been proved to cure Coronavirus.
They advise members of the public to keep adhering to precautions advice from the government and health experts.
President of the Pharmacists Association of Tanzania, Mr Issa Honga confirmed to the ‘Daily News’ of the high demand for and bulk purchasing of the drugs on assumptions that they can cure the virus.
He said people, engulfed by Covid-19 fear, are buying antibiotics in bulk and keep them so that they can use the drugs once they experience headache and coughing.
“It’s true that there has been a high demand for the drugs nowadays, I think this is because of the fact that, symptoms of the Covid-19 are the same that can be cured by the antibiotics on demand, but there is no medicine that has been approved for curing the Coronavirus,” he added.
The pharmacist went on to urge Tanzanians to refrain from buying large quantities of the drugs if they are neither for immediate use nor recommended by physicians.
The codes of ethics and professional conduct for pharmaceutical personnel of 2015, among other guidelines, require a pharmacist to ensure access to essential medicine and promote and ensure rational use of medicines.
Mr Honga also reminded pharmacists to stick to their profession and diligently perform their key role of serving people’s lives by ensuring the availability of safe, efficacious and quality medicines.
Expounding further, Mr Honga noted there are two ways that pharmacists can issue drugs to patients, one is by using a doctor’s prescription that recommends kinds of drugs the patient should use and another one is over the counter methods where the pharmacist observes the condition of the client and administers medication.
“When it comes to over the counter drugs, it is crucial for the pharmacist to observe all the rules, no matter what, they should not sell drugs above the specified limit,” he said.
He went on to assure that currently there is no scarcity of essential drugs in the country.
He warned pharmacists who would breach the guidelines and codes of conduct would risk renewal of their licences by the Pharmacy Council.
