Why pharmacies are not fast food restaurants

For some reason, it seems that more and more patients are forgetting the importance of pharmacies. With the emergence of fast forward lives, people tend to forget the important things in life—one of them being the pharmacy.

Pharmacies, nowadays, are almost treated as fast food restaurants where people can just walk in, take medications and leave—just like buying chips. You just pay and leave.

At times, patients insist on purchasing the medications that they want, just like one would pay for a favourite burger. The worst scenarios are when some patients don’t even show up at the pharmacy. Instead, they send their house help just as they would send them to buy their food at a grocery. And some change their primary pharmacy just like how they prefer going to different restaurants.

There’s a difference between a pharmacy and your fast food restaurant or your favourite supermarket. Lack of awareness on the role of a pharmacy or pharmacist has hugely contributed to the rise in self-medication among the people.

Self-medication is widely practiced worldwide particularly in developing countries including Tanzania. High incidences of Malaria have contributed to self-medication with anti-malarial drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is considered as an alternative way for people who cannot afford the cost of health care services. Also, since many people cannot access health care facilities, many opt to receive initial treatment for fever at home using herbal medicines, oral antipyretics, anti-malarial or antibiotic drugs purchased at a nearby shops, without prescription.

Self-medication should be distinguished from home-treatment in the sense that, the former is used when individuals treat themselves without the direct involvement of another person concerning their illness. Home-treatment is the provision of treatment by formal or informal caregivers at home. A good example is the home-based management of malaria as opposed to treatment given at a recognised health care facility.

Risks associated

Risks associated with self-medication include lack of clinical evaluation of the condition by a health care provider which could result in misdiagnosis and incorrect choice of drugs. This may also delay the patient in seeking appropriate treatment, use of excessive drugs or lower dosage and prolonged duration of use.

Other potential risks include the development of adverse drug reactions, dangerous drug interactions and masking of a severe disease. There is also the risk of developing drug resistant bugs.

The current problem antibiotic resistance problem and the development of parasite resistance to anti-malarial drugs that has been reported in several countries are likely to be associated with irrational use of antibiotics and anti-malarial drug. All this results from the fact that people are not well aware of what a pharmacy is and what it does. This is, despite the fact that most people go to the pharmacies on regular basis.

What goes on behind the pharmacy’s glass partition and why does it take so long to get a prescription filled? As a patient, you should know the role of a community pharmacist in providing healthcare and how to get the most out of each visit to the pharmacy.

Since the pharmacist is usually the last health care professional to have contact with patients before they receive their medications, they are the final step in a system of checks and balances designed to ensure that medications are used safely and effectively. If the pharmacist believes that there is a problem with the prescription, he or she calls the prescribing doctor in order to review the prescription.

Also, the recent increased use of medical insurance has created a number of procedures to be followed before the patient gets medications. At times, the pharmacist is just referring to text-books and guidelines available to them to make sure that the patient gets the correct medication. And at other times, the pharmacist also communicates with other pharmacies to check the availability of the medication if they are out of stock. So now you know why it takes a while to fill your prescription form.

Here are some few tips before you visit a pharmacy to make sure you get the most from the visit:

Tell the pharmacist about all medications or supplements that you are taking. Plan to spend a few minutes with the pharmacist discussing your medications. This is one of the most valuable services that pharmacists provide, but few individuals take advantage of this free service.

If possible, fill your prescriptions at the same pharmacy so that they have your complete medication profile and will be able to detect drug interactions and duplicate therapy.

Listen to your pharmacist’s advice on substitution or alteration of medications as they are your medication professionals. They care for your health too just as your doctor would.

Develop a professional relationship with your pharmacist.

If you have to wait for your medications, spend the time reading about preventive therapies and your medications.

Check your blood pressure, weight, glucose, and cholesterol or obtain other information that may improve the management of your condition.

If possible, visit the pharmacy yourself with ample of time and always have in mind a few questions to ask your pharmacist. They are always there to help and counsel. A properly planned visit can be painless and in fact, rewarding. However, if for some unforeseen reason there is a delay in obtaining your prescription, take it in stride and keep it in perspective.

After all, there are other services that we gladly wait for that are not as important as our health. Pharmacies should not be viewed as fast food restaurants. They are a very important part of the healthcare system. Sometimes, the delivery of good health care takes time.

The Author is a Pharmacist based in Dar es Salaam.