Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem-Amal Fellowship
By: Farwa Shahbaz
Tags: Getting Things Done, Medication Errors, Amal Fellowship, Healthcare, Megaprojects

Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem-Amal Fellowship

Irrational Medicine Use in Pakistan- A Major HealthCare Issue

Health plays the key role in determining the human capital. Better health improves the efficiency and the productivity of the labor force, ultimately contributes the economic growth and leads to human welfare. It generates positive externalities for the society as a whole.

According to WHO (World Health Organization) about 0.5 million people, including women and children die each year due to medication errors in Pakistan. Isn’t it heart wrenching?

The emergence of extensively drug-resistant typhoid should be considered a warning of pushing back the world to the pre-antibiotic era due to the overuse of antibiotics. Similarly, the unnecessary and irrational use of antibiotics in self-limiting infection, for instance Influenza/Flue, is causing antibiotic resistance especially in children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its annual report said that the country is spending less than one percent of its GDP on health services while the public sector is providing unsatisfactory quality and coverage of health services. The report said that the country’s spending on health is still less than 1 percent of its GDP, whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an allocation of about 6 percent.

Causes of Irrational Medicine use In Pakistan:

Self-medication, Overdose of medicines, wrong prescription, Easy accessibility of drugs without even prescription, Improper handling and unawareness related to proper use of medicines are some basic causes of medication errors in Pakistan.

What can I do?

As a Pharmacist, It is my professional, social and moral responsibility to aware my people regarding rational use of medicines. As a medicine is a poison if it is not handled properly. Therefore, I am starting my “Community Pharmacy” in near future (In Sha Allah) where I’ll aware all of the patients regarding Adverse Effects, Proper Use, Interactions, Duration of Medication and other related aspects. Where It will be ensured that people get medicine only after showing a valid prescription from an Authorized practitioner. Not only this, But I’m also going to start my YouTube channel to address all of the above aspects at a massive level.

Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem Activity

I’ve been assigned to do a project, named “Getting Closer to your Mega Project” during my Amal Fellowship where I have to identify a problem around myself that I care about and want to consider for my Mega Project. The problem that I’ve chosen is already discussed in this blog.

My activities to identify the problem

To better understand the addressed problem, I visited some of pharmacies of my nearby area and noted the main problems related to medicine dispensing. I asked retailer to give me “Azomax” tablets, an antibiotic, and shockingly he gave me the tablets even without asking for prescription. He doesn’t even bother to elaborate the necessary information related to that antibiotic. The same happened in other pharmacies. I also observed my family, relatives, neighbors and other nearby people who do general mistakes like improper handling, medicine intake at inappropriate time, use without considering instructions related to medicines and most importantly self-medication. Though I started counselling all of them for long ago, but now I want to play my role at a massive level.

How this activity helped me to better understand my problem?

This project literally helped me a lot to better understand my goal/ purpose and why behind it. It forced me to have a deeper perspective of the problem practically, to design impactful strategies and utilize resources in an effective way to play my role in solving this problem.

“To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.”