Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu (middle) with executive members of PSGH and officials of the Health Ministry
President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) Pharm. Benjamin K. Botwe has called on healthcare professionals to work closely with pharmacists to reduce morbidity and mortality from medication errors.
Pharm. Botwe said medication error is a significant source of morbidity and mortality among patients worldwide, adding that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, more than 50% of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately, while 50% of patients fail to take them correctly.
He further disclosed that medication errors do not only bring about morbidity and mortality but also add extra costs to the already financially burdened health sector.
“A systematic review of the economic impact of medication errors by Wash et al (2017), which provided a clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence for the implementation of quality-of-care interventions showed the mean cost per medication error from $3.02 to $130,619.24,” he said.
Pharm. Botwe revealed that the study, however, proved that patients, who received pharmacist follow-up calls, were 88 % less likely to have a preventable medication error, resulting in an emergency or hospitalization with a pharmacist on routine medical rounds leading to a 78% reduction in medication errors.
He, therefore, stressed that in order to ensure medicines are prescribed appropriately to patients taking medicines correctly the expertise of the pharmacist is required for the intended benefit or outcome of the use of medication to be achieved.
“The role of the pharmacist is not only as a member of the healthcare team but also as an expert in medicines and must be taken seriously,” he said.
“This is why pharmacy practice over the years has moved from being a product-based practice to a patient-centered profession,” he added.
Pharm. Botwe was speaking at the commemoration of the 2018 World Pharmacists Day themed “Pharmacists: Your medicines experts.”
Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, who launched the day in Accra, said government would continue to make policies like the training of pharmacists in Doctor of pharmacy to aid improvement in the skills, competencies and expertise of the Ghanaian pharmacist.
He, therefore, called on pharmacists to put in their best to help meet the needs of Ghanaians who need their services.
“I urge all pharmacists to put the rights, health and wellbeing of the patient above all else and devise strategies to treat patients with complex conditions by tailoring your education to optimize patient care,” he added.
World Pharmacists Day
Since 2010, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and its 140 national associations like PSGH with over 4 million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists celebrate 25th September as World Pharmacists Day.
The day is meant to highlight the role of pharmacists in ensuring patient safety through responsible supply and use of medicines.
It is also to highlight the shift in pharmacy practice from being a product-centered practice to a patient-focused practice. WHO has recommended that undergraduate pharmacy education should be restructured to meet the demands of this new reality.
Activities for the celebration in Ghana which will be held from Accra to Bolgatanga include media engagements, health outreach programmes in deprived communities, donations to less privileged institutions and schools, public education on medicines and mass deworming exercises.
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Caption: Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu (middle) with executive members of PSGH and officials of the Health Ministry.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri