Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacy vital for Govts

GOVERNMENTS around the world are being urged to rethink their use of the community pharmacy sector within their health systems as part of future strategies to tackle pandemics.

A paper released by the World Pharmacy Council (WPC) titled Pandemic preparedness - optimising use of the pharmacy network noted that "early learnings" from the COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for guidance on how best to use pharmacies "as a vital part of the support network".

"As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed, there has been widespread but belated recognition of the vital role in the delivery of health care services that pharmacies play," the WPC said.

"Many health systems have hastily adopted measures to allow pharmacies to extend their contribution to coping with the demand on health services, but lack of advance preparation has led to delays in implementing measures that can provide an important contribution to managing the crisis and the prevention of new COVID-19 cases.

"There is a need for a greater focus by states on reducing preventable hospital presentations by allowing pharmacists to adopt their full scope of practice.

"Take this opportunity to rethink and reshape healthcare systems, namely through the integration of community pharmacy in the planning and delivery of health services, using their services to the full, and expanding their role and responsibilities, based on the learnings of the pandemic."

The paper noted that while many primary care providers switched to telehealth, community pharmacies around the world remained open to patients "for immediate advice without the need for appointments".

The WPC, which is led by Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, George Tambassis, also called on governments to engage community pharmacies early in crisis situations to manage demand for medicines and other health products, while also empowering pharmacists to offer therapeutic substitution in the event of medications shortages.

The organisation also flagged concerns that a number of countries did not include community pharmacies when distributing personal protective equipment in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.