[Reporter’s view] Pharmacist's role to meet post COVID-19

COVID-19 is changing our lives and culture itself with more powerful infectious power than any other epidemic.

 

Telecommuting and video conferencing, represented by social distance, began in earnest, and online shopping malls are booming.

 

It is a daily routine of non-facing contact.

 

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance also pointed to non-face-to-face meetings such as teleconference and video conferencing for economic policy since COVID-19 outbreak.

 

In order to prevent the spread of infection in medical institutions, the government even allowed non-face-to-face treatment for people with chronic diseases and the elderly.

 

The U.S.

 

FDA also issued a deregulation guideline that lowered the barrier to entry into telemedicine during the COVID-19 epidemic in March.

 

This is to activate telemedicine to prevent infection between face-to-face contacts.

 

Non-face-to-face treatment is an issue directly related to the delivery of prescription medicines.

 

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association is concerned about this.

 

The government reassured that there was no expansion of telemedicine beyond the current law, saying that non-face-to-face care is needed to protect medical institutions and patients from COVID-19, a highly contagious infection.

 

However, it is a sign that non-face-to-face counseling, such as telemedicine, will become necessary in the future in response to infectious diseases.

 

However, the current social distance is accompanied by economic losses.

 

There are also a lot of people who are tired of restraining outside activities.

 

Accordingly, the government is considering the future health care system.

 

There will be active discussions regarding non-face-to-face contact policies.

 

The government is preparing to switch to a non-face-to-face, life-prevention system.

 

It becomes social distance campaign in life.

 

The most important countermeasures against the epidemic have been proved that quarantine measures through rapid inspection and confirmation, and that essential quarantine supplies should be supplied in a timely manner.

 

This means that the diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases is not the only role of medical institutions.

 

Through the 5-day rotation mask distribution system, it was recognized that the pharmacy's role in the daily life prevention system is important.

 

As the interest in the role of the pharmacist's skill that has been overlooked has been refocused, the pharmacist society should not be left behind by the post-COVID-19 era that will change in the future rather than clinging to telemedicine issues.

 

The role of the pharmacist's function in the era of infectious diseases and the future are even more important.

 

Masks, hand sanitizers, and disinfectants can also be bought at marts, but an expert who can explain the exact range of use and how to do it can be done by a pharmacist at the pharmacy.

 

The role of the pharmacist in the daily life prevention system is inevitable.

 

The pharmacist should conduct specialized training to cope with infectious diseases, and the trained pharmacist should be more professional in the prevention of life.

 

In addition, specialized pharmacists in the prevention of infectious diseases should be fostered in accordance with the legislation of the specialized pharmacist system.

 

If the pharmacist's skill is specialized, the opinion that pharmacists should be included in the health care providers will be more supported.

 

In this case, expansion of the pharmacist's competency may also be considered.

 

It can be considered that if the patient's care and prescription are stopped in response to an infectious disease that occurs simultaneously in a specific local medical institution, it is considered to be in accordance with the exhibition situation.

 

If patient care and prescriptions are stopped in response to infectious diseases that occur simultaneously in certain local medical institutions, it will be like wartime situation.

 

Before separation of prescribing and dispensing drugs, the pharmacy directly diagnosed the patient and took the role of prescribing and dispensing.

 

In order to prevent the collapse of the health care system in the epidemic area, Measures for prescribing medicines temporarily by local pharmacies may be considered.

 

Systematic protection measures should be prepared, such as storing personal protective equipment (PPE) for each pharmacist society and distributing it to member pharmacies when an epidemic occurs.