By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga has called for increased training programmes in pharmacy aimed at developing a good reputation for the profession.
The speaker made a call while officiating at the 8th African Pharmaceutical Symposium in Imperial Hotel in Entebbe on Monday 22 July 2019.
With the increase of pharmacists and the rise of Non-Communicable Diseases
(NCDs), the Speaker said it is important to ensure safety of drugs and value
for human health. This she said can be done through investing in well trained
workforce.
“There are small pharmacies on the streets. If you go to a weekly market, you
will find people selling medicine and you cannot be sure whether it is expired
or damaged by the sun,” said Kadaga.
She also challenged the pharmacists to ensure that the profession is
integrated with the current trends of technology and innovation to be able to
respond appropriately to the emerging NCDs.
“We need to avert premature deaths by improving access to and use of preventive
healthcare services, strengthening health work force by recruiting well trained
pharmacists as well as increase health facilities and stocking them,” Kadaga
added.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said that steps have been taken
to equip pharmacists with new skills to match the changing health needs of the
population.
She added that some of the pharmacists have taken specialized training in
emerging areas such as management of cancer.
“Majority of those who have undergone specialised training are now employed in
the cancer institute. This will improve quality of care, and assure good
treatment outcome and rational use of medicine,” Aceng said.
In her speech read by the Director Clinical Services, Ministry of Health,
Dr. Charles Olaro, Aceng called for a shift in health policy priorities,
strategies and increased healthcare spending on NCDs.
“Government needs to invest in research in drug discovery and development that
seeks to harness Africa’s biodiversity in herbal medicines with the view of
extracting new drugs,” Aceng added.
She also pledged commitment by the Ministry of Health in continuing to uphold the cause for advancement of pharmacy practice.
