Marks pushing efficiency in pharma sector

GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — Government Minister Audrey Marks says she is looking forward to working with the pharmaceutical sector to resolve pressing industry challenges including the near 60-year-old legislation that currently governs operations in that sector here. “It’s time for us to review those processes and upgrade the environment in which they operate. And when you look at the fact that we have 1,500 registered pharmacies in Jamaica, it’s an important network in our health-care infrastructure,” Marks, the Minister of Efficiency, Innovation and Digital Transformation, assured Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica (PSJ) President Dr Tyrone Smith.

Her comments came as the Jamaica Observer spoke with them both, last Friday, following Marks’s address during the opening ceremony of the 41st joint annual conference of the PSJ and the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists (CAP). The conference was held at Princess Grand Jamaica Hotel in Green Island, Hanover, August 17-23. “It’s important that they feel heard and that we work together to get the objectives that we are trying to achieve actioned because this will be for the benefit of all Jamaicans in improving our health-care delivery.

So I’m looking forward to working with you,” Marks said. Over the years, the PSJ has identified a number of areas that are in need of improvement. Among the recommendations it has made are the need to permit electronic prescribing and dispensing of drugs, pharmaceutical waste disposal, and expanding clinical practice and regulatory framework.

Addressing the need to modernise policy, Smith pointed out that pharmacists have expanded their scope of practice and professional roles. “We have clinical pharmacists now that are more advanced in their training and are doing bedside management and working alongside doctors in the hospital to ensure that patient health outcomes are optimised. We have over 200 pharmacists in Jamaica now who are trained and certified by the American Pharmacists Association as immunisers,” he pointed out.

In response, the minister noted that while she was pleased with these developments, she was disappointed that the necessary infrastructure was not yet in place to allow pharmacists to practice within the full framework of their certification and training. “That is another high-priority area because it’s great to see that the pharmacists have taken the initiative …