The Need to Strengthen the Role of the Pharmacist in Sri Lanka: Perspectives

Abstract

The role of the pharmacist in healthcare has evolved greatly over the last half-century, from dispensing to providing direct patient-oriented activities not associated with dispensing. However, pharmacist-led healthcare services in Sri Lanka must undergo reform to fully take advantage of their expertise and training in medicine management and related outcomes in Sri Lankan patients. As befits a profession’s role development and value, professional and educational standards for pharmacists need ongoing development and growth. Currently, university curricula and continuing professional education in Sri Lanka require further development and optimisation to provide the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills regarding quality use of medicines and patient-oriented care. Furthermore, pharmacists’ roles in Sri Lankan hospital and community pharmacist settings need to be recognised and should include the pharmacist as an integral part of the multidisciplinary healthcare team in Sri Lanka. Studies from developed countries and some developing countries have demonstrated that expanded pharmacists’ roles have had a significant positive cost-effective impact on the population’s health. Therefore, the availability of qualified Sri Lankan pharmacists trained to deliver expanded professional services accompanied by greater pharmacist integration into healthcare delivery is crucially important to ensure quality use of medicines within the Sri Lankan healthcare system and optimise the medication-related needs of Sri Lankans.

Satisfaction and needs of pharmacists in prescription-checking training: a cross-sectional survey

“…To meet the needs of pharmacists, training needs to be patient-centred, and to include clinical and therapeutic contents. 36 This training focused on basic clinical knowledge and classic prescription cases, which met the trainees’ needs and was well received.…”

Survey on satisfaction and needs of pharmacists in prescription-checking training: a cross-sectional study

“…Prescription-checking is an important part of the pharmacists' services. The training should be patient-centered, and include clinical and therapeutic contents [31], to be in line with the needs of pharmacists. This training was based on clinical basic knowledge and classic prescription cases, which met the needs of pharmacists, and was well received by the trainees.…”

Prospect of Tele-Pharmacists in COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Bangladesh

“…Compared with developed countries, the pharmacy profession is still lagging behind in developing countries in a way that the pharmacy professionals have never been seen as part of the health care team either by the community or by the health care providers. Though hospital pharmacists are recognized in many developed nations for their importance as a healthcare professional, in most developing countries it is still underutilized or underestimated [45][46][47][48]. Hospital pharmacy practice has just begun in some modern private hospitals in Bangladesh, which are inaccessible to most people because of the high cost of these hospitals to patients [49].…”