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The success of a pharmacist's efforts should be judged by their
ability to work in a team environment and not by the efficient
manner in which medicines are supplied to clients.
The
realisation of this comes through when given the opportunity to
work amongst a people of poor health status, such as remote living
Australian Aboriginals.
Life
expectancy is 20 years less; that "mainstream"; medicines
(especially antibiotics and anti diabetic drugs) are used in large
quantities; and, children are "vaccinated" with anti
parasitic agents, the realisation hits that the task of improving
health status is enormous.
There
is a multiplicity of activities impacting on this situation, and
pharmacists have to work out how their knowledge can contribute
towards the common goal.
Factors
such as poverty, social inequality and disempowerment are much
larger contributors to ill health, than whether or not a medicine
is taken. In fact whether medicines are taken becomes a small
part of the "good health mix".
The
culture is under threat, minds are torn between traditional culture
and western culture, and the assistance they have been receiving
is measured more in monetary terms than social equality.
The
challenge is enormous, and yet it must succeed if Australia is
to be seen as a truly "caring" nation towards the underprivileged
in society.
So
where does the pharmacists fit in to this primary and public health
setting?
The
answer is certainly not clear, yet the project being undertaken
by the Tiwi Health Board in the Northern Territory is endeavouring
to establish if there is a role, and what this role is.
Encouragement from some quarters is good, but other more influential
sources would prefer to see the exercise "go away" due
to the unconventional model being established.
Yes
it is unconventional, and has to be if it to reflect the different
nature of the culture with which it is dealing. There are no neon
signs, shop front banners or competition in the retail sector.
There is in fact one store that sells all, and the pharmacists
are working with the store to see if it can expand the range of
"over the counter" medicines it sells from its "pharmacy"
section.
In the same way as the indigenous Australians are encouraged to
partake in a new way of doing things, it is not one way traffic.
The pharmacy profession must understand that the "mainstream"
way of doing business will not work in these communities.
It must be different, as they are different.
In
a true spirit of reconciliation, the leaders of the profession
should get behind the Tiwi project and support its principles,
and not deny it access to programs designed to assist in providing
a better quality of pharmacy practice.
The
outcome of the Tiwi project could well be the template for future
development of pharmacy services to Aboriginal communities. It
is important that it receives the cooperation it deserves from
both the commercial and professional sectors of the industry.
So
don't think there is one method of measuring success in service
delivery. There is only one that really counts, and that is the
degree to which pharmacists are accepted as "one of the team"
- the Primary and Public Health Care team.
Without
this acceptance, a machine will do the job just fine!
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