AfricaPress-Tanzania: PHARMACY Council of Tanzania (PCT) plans to gather input from pharmacy professionals to develop proper guidelines to guide them in offering services by observing measures against outbreaks such as Covid-19.
The PCT said it saw the importance of engaging the professionals to formulate the guidelines that incorporated stakeholders’ views, something which was impossible to do previously because people panicked a lot over the pandemic.
“Now we need the input to have proper guidelines for pharmacists over the Covid-19,” PCT Registrar Elizabeth Shekalaghe said during a video-conference attended by about 100 pharmacists.
The conference, organised by the PCT, was part of marking National Pharmacy Week and Commonwealth Pharmacy Day commemorated on every June 16.
In Tanzania, National Pharmacy Week, which is celebrated from June 10- 16, was preceded by Commonwealth Pharmacy Day.
National Pharmacy Week highlights the role of pharmacy professionals in pandemic preparedness. Ms Shekalaghe said pharmacists should use the day to show and reflect on their contribution to society.
“We need to think ahead and decide what should be done next and how we can support one another to ensure we achieve our goals,” she emphasised.
As a way forward in improving the pharmaceutical profession during the coronavirus pandemic, Ms Shekalaghe cited continued training to pharmacists as crucial for facilitating them to acquire more skills and knowledge.
“We should ensure adequate availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). Let’s support our local pharmaceutical industries to take the lead in manufacturing protective gear,” she said.
She added: “As pharmacists, we can sit down. This is the time to change. We should think outside the box to make the profession flourish,” she argued.
Contributing to the discussion, a pharmacist, Ms Martha Lyimo, said when it came to research there should be proper coordination, particularly on funds for carrying out such activities.
Ms Lyimo also said public awareness on the rationale of using medication needed more emphasis.
“I think the community has to be sensitised on the rational use of medication,” she said.
The pharmacists also argued that availability of resources was important in the fight against the pandemic and suggested that prices of medical equipment had to be reasonable.
