Sierra Leone News: Pharmacy Board Empowers Media Practitioners

By Hasbin Shaw

The Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone (PBSL) on Tuesday August 6, 2019, held a one-day media seminar with the theme: “Strategic Media Partnership Creation and Retention for media practitioners.”

The seminar was aimed at establishing and retaining strategic partnership with media practitioners in order to optimize sensitization and outreach campaigns of the Board’s activities.

The seminar will also enable journalists to continually and adequately inform the public about access to quality, safe and effective pharmaceutical products and services in the country.

According the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, there are 12 departments in ensuring best practices for both pharmacists and drug consumers.

Alpha Tejan Kella, the head of Quality Assurance, said that the general public should be drug cautious because half of all medicines are inappropriately prescribed, dispensed or sold and half of all patients fail to take their medicine properly worldwide.

Kella said, “An estimated two-third of global antibiotic sales occur without any prescription, and studies in Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Africa shows that antibiotics was prescribed for over 70% of patients.”

He added that the great majority of up to about 90% of injections are estimated to be unnecessary.