[Unpad.ac.id, 06/11/2013] On January 1, 2014 the government will start to develop National Health Insurance Program (JKN) to improve Indonesian people’s health condition. The program should be supported by every stakeholder so that it will run properly.
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In the field of pharmacy, General Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices, Ministry of Health, Maura Linda Sitanggang, Ph.D., said that the orientation of pharmacy today has been shifted from product to service; therefore, there will be a direct relation between the pharmacists and the patients.
“Thus, it is necessary for pharmacists to improve their knowledge, attitude, and skill related to the pharmaceutical services, along with communication skill and team work in order to achieve the desired therapy goals and the highest level of public health,” she said this as a key note speaker at the national seminar titled “The 1st Indonesian Conference on Clinical Pharmacy,” Wednesday (06/11) at Ballroom of Hilton Hotel, Bandung.
Preparing for JKN program, Sitanggang predicted the scope for public health services will increase, and pharmacy being one of the independent systems cannot be separated with other health systems.
“Pharmacy system includes three notions: the availability of medicine distribution, the guarantee for the efficacy and quality of medicines along with the safety from drug abuse, and the rational medicine use,” she explained.
Sitanggang also added that pharmacists should have competence network which includes not only pharmacists working in the hospitals and communities, but also researchers, scientists, teaching staff, and pharmaceutical care officers in the hospital who interact with other fields. Indonesian pharmacy system has met the good quality. However, the ratio of pharmacists should be added to improve the quality. “The point is the role of stakeholders is necessary and they must work together to develop synergy,” she said.
The national seminar was organized by Faculty of Pharmacy Unpad as part of a series of events for the celebration of the faculty’s 53rd Dies Natalis. The head of committee, Dr. Keri Lestari, M.Si., Apt., said that the seminar aims to improve knowledge on the theories and experiences in clinical pharmacy practices. Participants which range from pharmacists, doctors, researchers, academicians, and students from various institutions in Indonesia joined the seminar which presented three speakers, Prof. Dr. Joseph T. Dipiro, Pharm, D., (South Carolina College of Pharmacy University of South Carolina, USA), Prof. Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman, Ph.D., (Universiti Sains Malaysia), and Prof. Tomonori Nakamura, Ph.D., (Keio University Japan).
