Ellen Campbell-Grizzle

Consumers often remark that pharmacies today are not like those that existed 20 years ago. Many are now convenience stores and the shoppers may not be buying medication at all. The faces of those pharmacists who take care of you change with remarkable regularity. Increasingly, pharmacists no longer own pharmacies, but are instead employed by entrepreneurs. Today, Jamaican law requires that a pharmacist be employed by any person who wishes to operate a pharmacy.

Jamaica has become the Caribbean mecca for pharmacy. In these times, some patients get the impression that the pharmacist does not understand what they are saying and many patients complain that they do not understand what pharmacists are saying to them. In the first instance, the consumer should be aware that the days when only Jamaican pharmacists worked here are long gone. On the second matter, pharmacists struggle every day to find the right words to effectively communicate with patients about increasingly complex information related to drug action and anticipated human response. Some pharmacists appear to have quit trying.

Medication choices

There is now a wide range of options to treat the most common ailments. It is no longer a choice between aspirin or paracetamol for pain. Also, there are different dosage forms that further customise your medication choices. The problem is that vital, new drugs and elegant dosage forms have fuelled the increasing cost of medication. Depending on your illness, your prescription can exceed your monthly rental many times over.

Consumers do complain about the extra cost of prescriptions to secure some medicines. The truth is that bypassing your physician is foolhardy. Also, you are unlikely to have insurance reimbursement if your medication is removed from the prescription-only list.

The status of drugs change from time to time. Contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives, are available without prescription at this time. The days of 'just a likkle cold medicine' are over. The Jamaican regulatory authorities have ruled that cough and cold preparations, some containing habit-forming substances, should be sold in pharmacies only and with requisite counselling.

In New Zealand, the sale of these substances must be reported by pharmacies to the regulatory agencies. The United States has placed tighter regulations on the sale of such items. Jamaican consumers must educate themselves about the ingredients in these medicines and make informed choices.

Progress and protection

There is no doubt that pharmacy is changing in Jamaica. The tension between the value of progress and the constant need to protect the consumer is ever present. The modern, glitzy appearance of pharmacies and powerful promotional blitzes, features of the current culture of the marketplace, feed our national economy.

Regrettably, there are so many poor consumers who are not a part of this conversation, intimidated by the faade of the modern pharmacy as they must still choose between medication and the next meal.

Barriers to pharmacist-patient communication, adverse effects and medication affordability are all causes for concern. Against this backdrop, it is in the interest of the Jamaican consumer to be informed about medicines and alert to flaws in the system. Most pharmacists know that there is common ground between the need to protect the consumer's interest and their intention to provide medicines safely and promote good health. This shared interest has never changed.

Ellen Campbell Grizzle, president, Caribbean Association of Pharmacists; director, Information & Research, National Council on Drug Abuse; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.