The Tribune

The Bahamas is in its “embryonic stage” when it comes to pharmaceutical technology, Philip Gray, pharmacist and chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) revealed yesterday.

His comments came while speaking to The Tribune at the Atlantis resort where a pharmacy conference is being held under the theme “Enhancing Optimal Pharmaceutical Care through Technology” thanks to a joint partnership between the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists (CAP) and the Commonwealth Pharmacist Association (CPA).

Mr Gray was speaking about the status of the Bahamas in regard to pharmaceutical technology in comparison to more developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

“We’ve put in the infrastructure but there’s a need for the full utilisation of the skill sets that these people have,” he also said, explaining that while pharmacists in the Bahamas are educated and highly qualified, they are not sufficiently viewed as part of the health service team by the government.

Yvonne Reid, president of Caribbean Association of Pharmacists, reiterated Mr Gray’s statements, saying: “It’s important that our colleagues are a part of the decision-making process. We would like to see our colleagues being seen as part of the health team, ensuring that medication are used safely and cost effectively.”

As far as storage places for medication, disposal of items and allocation of limited medical resources are concerned, pharmacists—the experts on medication—should have a seat at the table, Ms Reid explained.

Likewise, Raymond Anderson, president of the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA), said: “More and more people are taking medicines to live longer. Pharmacists should be in position to help manage them. There’s no other profession which has such a complete knowledge of medicine. The perception is that a pharmacy is just a place where you go and get your medicine. Persons should know they can ask pharmacists about their medicines because pharmacists have something to give in terms of producing better health in persons.”

As an example, Mr Anderson explained that research shows that when a pharmacist “follows a patient throughout their stay in the hospital, the patients are able to get out of the hospital two days earlier.”

During the conference, agitating for greater inclusion of pharmacists into healthcare matters is just one of the issues that will be discussed.

Roger Odd, Secretary of the CPA, said pharmacists will also learn how they to provide better services to patients.

“People suffering from disorders will be coming to describe what they want. People with disabilities will engage with us so we can have a better understanding of them—already we’ve learnt things we didn’t know,” he said.

More than 200 persons are expected to attend the conference.