PHARMACY BOARD OF SIERRA LEONE’S SPEECH ON WORLD PHARMACY TECHNICIAN DAY
PHARMACY
BOARD OF SIERRA LEONE’S SPEECH ON WORLD PHARMACY TECHNICIAN DAY
THEME: PHARMACY TECHNICIANS ‘’The
frontline’’ of health service delivery
DATE: 18TH October 2022
Good Morning to all present at this
very important occasion. I am very proud to recognize as the Acting Registrar
of Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone and as a Pharmacy Professional myself the
immense role played by Pharmacy Technicians in delivering on the mandate of the
health sector. Pharmacy Technicians support especially the Primary Health Care
systems in Sierra Leone to role out access to medicines programmes providing
timely quality and efficacious medicines to priority and vulnerable population
subsets across our chiefdoms towns and cities. Pharmacy Technicians are pivotal
in reducing health care expenditures and promoting Universal Health Coverage by
serving as custodians of medicines in our primary health care units and across
our supply chain. Pharmacy Technicians are indeed always on the ‘frontline’’ of
health service delivery and their role in ensuring health wellbeing and
longetivity of population subsets cannot be underestimated.
In Sierra Leone the Pharmacy
Technician cadre are often found most immediately supporting the Pharmacist and
the Health system in addressing disease burdens from the standpoint of access
to medicines. In the private sector Pharmacy Technicians serve a critical
interface as ‘frontline’workers bringing
communities and citizens much needed pharmaceutical services and also promoting
rational medicines use in regular times and also during epidemic and pandemics
like the COVID-19 pandemic. As the
custodians of medicines within the supervisory scope of the Pharmacist
Pharmacy Technicians are a citizen and communities first point of contact and
first professional to provide therapeutic
options . Today’s Pharmacy Technician is on the ‘frontline’’ of the
evolution in drug discovery and development actively engrossed in drug
production clinical trials marketing and drug service delivery. Pharmacy
Technicians are adequately trained skilled and equipped to serve as
‘Frontline’ messengers and bridges
between the public health system especially primary health care and the
private sector and citizens and communities.
Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone has
over the years promoted and supported the work of the Pharmacy Technician Cadre
within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and across line ministries. It would continue to answer the call of the
Pharmacy Technicians and position it as a respectable component within the
Pharmacy community of practice. Pharmacy Board recognizes the role of the
Pharmacy Technician Cadre in regulating the Profession and Practice of Pharmacy
and is committed to building it’s capacity to deliver on present and future
mandates of the Board.
I must end here and leave you with
the Board’s well wishes and hopes for continuing success in celebrating this
day and in advancing the course of the Pharmacy Technician Cadre here in Sierra
Leone and globally.