Message from the President

Mr Mogologolo Phasha

In this penultimate issue of the Pharmaciae published under the current Council term, we provide concise yet informative articles that seek to update the profession on Council decisions, its work and other matters relating to Pharmacy.

Dear Colleagues,

In the previous issue of the Pharmaciae (Vol. 9, Issue 1) I alluded to the fact that the Council collective had concluded drafting the amended Regulations relating to the election of members of the South African Pharmacy Council in order to deliver an electronic/digital elections process and eliminate the logistical challenges that are associated with snail-mail voting and to facilitate maximum participation by the profession in Council elections. As I pen this message, we have successfully completed the first-ever South African Pharmacy Council digital/electronic election, in an inclusive, accessible, and transparent manner, yet in record-breaking turnaround time.

The fact that the Elections Returning Officer received 161 valid nominations in the nominations phase and that 7 062 valid ballots were processed at the end of the 72-hour voting period is testament to the increased accessibility of the election process introduced through the amendment regulations. While we celebrate this victory and many others achieved so far in the Council term, we are still saddened by the continued unnecessary litigation against the implementation of Pharmacist-Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (PIMART) by the general practitioners’ interest group.

Following Council’s victory in the North Gauteng High Court, the IPAF sought leave to appeal the judgement dismissing their application to stop the implementation of PIMART, a programme seeking to increase access to HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention services and ensure that the country reaches currently unreached and unreachable persons living with HIV. The North Gauteng High Court granted leave to appeal to IPAF on 18 September 2023. We again commit to the profession and the people of South Africa that, in the interest of persons living with HIV, their families, and the nation at large, we will continue to fight for increased access to HIV treatment services through PIMART.

In the 10 months to date, we have also finalised the competency standards for specialist pharmacists in industrial pharmacy, clinical pharmacy and radiopharmacy, and released them for stakeholder/public input and comment. We have also finalised the Work-Based Learning (WBL) Guidelines for the Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm), occupational certificates, and supplementary training programmes, the comment period for the WBL ends 22 November 2023. I am also ecstatic to report to the profession that we have finally published the updated Primary Care Drug Therapy (PCDT) competency standards, scope of practice and qualification accreditation guidelines, through Board Notice 384 of 2023. This publication opens up PCDT for greater accessibility to the profession as the programme accreditation guidelines published will enable more providers of pharmacy education to offer PCDT supplementary training.

While I intend to cover the progress made in terms of protecting the dignity of the profession and discharging our mandate for protecting the public’s right to quality pharmaceutical care at all times in the December 2023 issue of the Pharmaciae, I would like to laud the work of the disciplinary committees of Council thus far. The Committee of Formal Inquiry, whose findings are featured in this issue, has really worked hard to root out unprofessional conduct by pharmacy owners who had brought the name of the profession into disrepute while potentially endangering the lives of patients. While on the issue of professionalism and ethical conduct in pharmacy, I wish to draw your attention to articles relating to perverse incentives and the ethical dispensing of codeine-containing products in this issue. 

We are ten months into the year, meaning that all pharmacists should have submitted at least five (5) continuing professional development (CPD) entries, as a minimum, if we are to comply with CPD Regulations by December 2023 and avoid penalties. We have the simplest CPD system among healthcare professionals in the country, and the fact that any learning activity can be recorded as a CPD entry regardless of whether it was learned from a colleague, journal article, seminar or in the process of doing one’s job makes compliance less burdensome financially. I call on colleagues to submit CPD entries in time for the 31 December 2023 submission deadline.

In this penultimate issue of the Pharmaciae published under the current Council term, we provide concise yet informative articles that seek to update the profession on Council decisions, its work and other matters relating to Pharmacy.

Colleagues, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the entire profession for the support which you gave to Council and the Office of the Registrar during our term of office which is concluding at the end of this year.

Lastly, I wish to thank all the Council members for the great work and cutting-edge decisions which Council took during this term of office. Your dedication and commitment to our profession will have a long-lasting impact on this profession for many years to come.

Salute!

Mr Mogologolo Phasha
President
South African Pharmacy Council

Share this article