- Errors reported at three main well being services in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
- 96% errors accepted, recognised by prescribing physicians, surgeons.
- “Medicine errors sixth main explanation for loss of life in developed international locations.”
ISLAMABAD: Over 80,000 prescription errors have been reported in Pakistan over the past 12 months at three main well being services in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi the place physicians and surgeons prescribed both a incorrect medication, incorrect dose, or didn’t care about drug-drug interplay which may have proved deadly for the sufferers.
This was revealed in a report by medical pharmacists throughout a ceremony to mark the World Pharmacists Day 2023 on Tuesday, The Information reported.
“Of those 80,000 prescription errors, 96% errors have been accepted and recognised by the prescribing physicians and surgeons and so they rectified their prescriptions in session with medical pharmacists to make sure affected person security,” Sardar Shabbir Ahmed, President of the Pakistan Pharmacists Affiliation (PPA), mentioned.
Senior authorities officers, together with Extra Secretary Well being Kamran Rehman Khan, Vice Chancellor Well being Companies Academy (HSA) Prof Shahzad Ali Khan, Director Registration from Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Fakhruddin Amir, senior pharmacists and different officers, attended the ceremony.
Sardar Shabbir Ahmed, Chief Drug Inspector, Islamabad, maintained that treatment errors have been the sixth main explanation for loss of life in developed international locations like the USA the place round 7,000-9,000 folks yearly die because of treatment errors.
Moreover, a whole lot of hundreds of different sufferers expertise however typically don’t report an antagonistic response or different treatment problems, he mentioned, including that the whole price of taking care of sufferers with medication-associated errors exceeds $40 billion annually within the US alone.
“In these circumstances, there may be an pressing have to introduce medical pharmacy companies in any respect the private and non-private well being services to stop deaths and disabilities attributable to treatment errors and antagonistic drug reactions”, he mentioned, including that promotion of neighborhood pharmacy companies may additionally assist in managing Non-Communicable Ailments (NCDs), together with diabetes and hypertension in Pakistan.
The Pharmacists Affiliation president additional referred to as for the institution of pharmacovigilance centres throughout Pakistan to detect, monitor and stop antagonistic drug reactions to make sure affected person security.
Prof Khan additionally highlighted the function of pharmacists in affected person security, saying at a time when sufferers have been being overburdened with ‘irrational prescriptions’ by physicians and surgeons, educated and certified pharmacists may forestall sufferers from bodily and monetary hurt.
“All I wish to advise the pharmacists of Pakistan to construct their capability and get the information in order that they may problem the physicians and surgeons who typically commit errors whereas prescribing medicines to the sufferers”, he mentioned.
“Medical doctors’ job is to diagnose a illness whereas it’s the pharmacists’ obligation to prescribe the appropriate medication in the appropriate dose for the remedy,” he added.
He maintained that many departments and applications which have been at present run by the medical doctors, together with the immunisation program, must be managed and run by educated and certified pharmacists like in different international locations of the world and added that the function of pharmacists was additionally essential in making certain entry to medicines within the nation.
“Sadly, in a lot of the hospitals, pharmacists are engaged in getting ready lists of medicines for tenders; they’re assigned the function of storekeepers and dishing out medicines to the sufferers. This isn’t the function and duty of a pharmacist”, he mentioned and urged pharmacists to provide you with revolutionary concepts to turn out to be entrepreneurs as an alternative of job seekers.
Extra Secretary Well being Kamran Rehman Khan deplored that though there have been round 670 pharmaceutical corporations registered with the DRAP in Pakistan, hardly 10 corporations have been in a position to export their merchandise to the stringent markets as the bulk weren’t following the worldwide requirements and good manufacturing practices within the pharmaceutical trade.
“Pharmacists can play an vital function in introducing good manufacturing practices in our pharmaceutical trade and make our medication acceptable for all the world”, he mentioned, including that with higher high quality medicines, Pakistan may earn billions of {dollars} by exporting medicines to the world, particularly the African international locations.
DRAP official Amir, Zafar Bakhtawari, Ahsan Bakhtawari, and office-bearers of the PPA additionally spoke in the course of the ceremony.