S’wak Pharmaceutical Society seeks govt partnership to enhance healthcare system
KUCHING: The Sarawak Pharmaceutical Society (SPS) is ready to collaborate with the Sarawak government to improve the still-developing healthcare system in the state.
Through public-private partnerships by working with the Ministry of Health (MoH), community pharmacies can help by dispensing chronic medications, such as cholesterollowering drugs, to the public who normally obtain their medications from public hospitals, said an SPS statement yesterday.
“This provides convenience and saves a significant amount of time for patients while reducing the burdens on healthcare professionals working in public hospitals.
“Patients are likely to have the same community pharmacists conduct medication reviews and dispense their medications, which helps to improve compliance and ensure better and consistent quality of care, as the same pharmacists are dispensing their medications,” said SPS.
Newly-minted SPS president Ngu Soon Hieng said pharmacists are precious to the society.
He said SPS members who are pharmacists are encouraged to view their patients with the same care and attention they would afford their family members, underscoring the profession’s capacity for compassion alongside clinical expertise.
Ngu also called pharmacists, who are technologically savvy and full with ideas but finds it hard to be understood, to join SPS in its mission to elevate the position of pharmacists in society.
Another significant project between SPS and the Ministry of Health is the Diabetes Medications Therapy Adherence Centre (DMTAC), he pointed out.
He said SPS aims to equip its members to be certified DMTAC community pharmacists to help the public prevent chronic diseases and improve their health by taking medications in the correct manner, provide intermittent fasting education, exercise and so on, to improve insulin resistance and patients’ health.
Moreover, the SPS is leveraging the power of partnership and innovation through initiatives like the upcoming Borneo International Scientific Conference scheduled for Sept 20-22 later this year in Kuching.
This international event is set to be a cornerstone for collaborative learning and advancement, with a special focus on members’ professional development through significantly discounted registration fees for members.
“Certified brain health coach among pharmacists is also another area of interest for SPS. Brain health coaching in pharmacies can be engaging.
“It’s not about treating serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Instead, it focuses on prevention and teaching people how to manage their own thoughts and feelings by creating coherence between their heart and mind,” said the statement.
As the SPS embarks on this journey, it invites all pharmacists to join in this noble endeavor, uniting under the banner of health perfection and community service.
For those pharmacists who are yet to join SPS, regardless whether in the public or private sector, are highly encouraged to join SPS.
Contact the SPS secretariat via sarawakps@yahoo.com, or WhatsApp to 016-8975617 for more details.