Message for Commonwealth Pharmacy Day 2008

As Guyana joins countries in the Commonwealth to observe Commonwealth Pharmacy Day 2008, I want to commend the Guyana Pharmacy Association for their resolute preservation of its relationship with the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association. This is the 38th year of observances by the Guyana Pharmacy Association. The Guyana Pharmacy Association has been in the forefront in ensuring our pharmacy professionals play an active role in the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association, but also to use this vehicle as a way of improving quality of pharmaceutical service provided to the Guyanese public.

As we observe Commonwealth Pharmacy Week, we must also reflect on the role of the pharmacist in health care in Guyana. The pharmacist deals with prescription drugs, but also with a growing number of non-prescription medication and health supplements. This year’s theme is most appropriate – “Your Pharmacist Cares About You- Preserving Pharmacy Practice in Guyana”.

The fact is that more than ever prescription drugs constitute a sizable portion of the health care expenditure in Guyana. My concerns at this time are the equitable distribution of this expenditure and also the equitable distribution of qualified pharmacy professionals. Too many of Guyana’s pharmacy professionals are concentrated around the urban areas. It is an area we will need to address urgently.

The Guyanese public needs to be aware of how much we pay for medication. This year we will conduct anonymous surveys among importers to determine what we pay as a country for various kinds of medication. We need to compare what we pay to bring medication into our country to what other countries pay. We must work diligently for the highest quality products, but we must also ensure we have value for money.

This year I would like to highlight a major problem pharmacy professionals and the Ministry of Health confront – the issue of counterfeit medicine. It is a growing problem. The World Health Organization investigated more than 1,500 cases in 2007. In 2000, only about 150 cases were investigated. A study done in collaboration with INTERPOL in South East Asia showed that between 1999 and 2006, more than 50% of the anti-malaria drugs were fake drugs.

The World Health Assembly considered this matter and although we could not agree on a way forward, this matter will be a major issue for discussion at the next World Health Assembly. Supplying counterfeit medicines to patients is a serious crime that puts human lives at risk and undermines the credibility of health systems. For example, a counterfeit medicine caused more than 100 deaths in Panama in 2006.

The Ministry of Health has put mechanisms in place to detect fake drugs and we hope that pharmacy professionals will work with us to ensure our country is free of counterfeit and fake medicines. Over this coming year a number of additional actions are to be taken. These actions are purely for the safety of people and are not intended merely to create difficulties for anyone. The Ministry of Health is urging pharmacy professionals and operators of pharmacy to cooperate with the Ministry in its efforts to ensure counterfeit medicine is not a problem for our health sector.

Finally on Commonwealth Pharmacy Day, let me congratulate those professionals among us who for decades have worked to ensure quality pharmaceutical services are provided to our people. These men and women include Mrs. Sharmani Paras Khalikaprashad, the longest serving Public Sector Pharmacist, a graduate of UG, who has served unbroken in the public sector since 1989, Mr. Carl Bacchus, a graduate of UG, a Caribbean Pharmacist of the Year (2002), who is the longest serving community pharmacist, having served since 1979 and Mr. Shaheed Ferouz, a graduate of Bradford University, London, who is the longest serving industrial pharmacist, having served since 1967. The Ministry of Health extends our gratitude and we pay tribute to these outstanding pharmacists.

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
Minister of Health

June 16, 2008