Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa
Failure to prepare is preparing to fail
PSSA Conference and Annual General
Meeting 2018
Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre
22 – 24 June 2018
The first word …
Sarel Malan, president of the PSSA, welcomed delegates to the conference. He explained that the focus this year would be on the planning and preparation necessary for pharmacy to succeed and reach new heights in the practice of our profession in the changing South African health environment.
At the 2017 conference there was
a strong focus on universal access to health or Universal Health Coverage and specifically National Health Insurance. As depicted in the theme of that conference, ‘Wild Water – Navigating the Next Wave’, the uncertainty in the profession around the future role of the pharmacist and that of certain spheres of pharmacy were robustly discussed. These discussions and what followed from the conference and 72nd AGM provided the direction and approach
the profession needed to start looking forward.
“Through the hard work and dedication of many people in the profession, task groups and forums were established and for the first time in my professional life, I now feel that, with the formation of the NHI Pharmacy Consultative Forum, pharmacy has come together and is working towards a common goal and future as one,” said Malan.
Universal Health Coverage and National Health Insurance are being implemented and there is no doubt that pharmacy and pharmaceutical services are critical to the success thereof. This conference is dedicated to planning and preparing for delivering pharmaceutical services within this system, working within the
financial, legislative and ethical framework pertaining to it and optimising the utilisation of pharmacists and pharmacy support personnel to provide effective health and pharmacy services. The key role of the pharmacist in primary health care and medicine use management, specifically antibiotic stewardship, will also be addressed in this context.
The aim of the 2018 conference was to contribute to a sound foundation on which the profession can successfully build. However, to be prepared and to prepare for success, each and every pharmacist will have to contribute to taking pharmacy to new heights.
PSSA Executive Committee 2018/2019
Congratulations to the newly elected Presidential Committee of the PSSA.
Prof Sarel Malan
President Stéphan Möller Deputy President Joggie Hattingh Honorary Treasurer Joe Ravele Immediate Past President Sarel Malan
Vice-Presidents
Academy Gareth Kilian
SAACP Tshif Rabali
SAAHIP Refiloe Mogale
SAAPI Douglas Oliver
Branch representatives
Border and Eastern Districts Sim Pambuka Cape Midlands Cheryl Stanton Cape Western Province Donald Black, Ronel
Boshoff, Aadila Patel,
Gawie Malan
Free State Blenn Eagar
KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Patrick O’Donoghue,
Gregory Poole
KwaZulu-Natal Inland Juané van der Merwe
Limpopo Eric Seepe
Mpumalanga Gideon Vosloo,
Obey Madzingo
Northern Cape Shawn Zeelie
North West Nico Scheepers
Pretoria Morné Adamson,
Michéle Coleman
Southern Gauteng Frans Landman,
Sybil Seoka, Hilton Stevens,
Lynette Terblanche
Vaal Triangle Willem Durand
Honorary Life Membership
Honorary life membership of the PSSA is bestowed on a small but very distinguished group of people. These individuals have been substantially responsible for the promotion and attainment of the objectives of the PSSA at a national level for many years. They have often rendered exceptional services in the profession as well. In 2018, honorary life membership of the PSSA was awarded to two outstanding pharmacists, Dr Johann Kruger and Dr Sybil Seoka. Both are past presidents of the PSSA. Both have furthered their studies in pharmacy and achieved success in their varied and interesting careers. Most importantly, both have contributed significantly to the activities of the PSSA for many years, and both are Fellows of the PSSA.
Johann Kruger’s education followed what has become a traditional route for most pharmacists in academia – BPharm, MPharm then PhD (in pharmacology). Then he deviated a little by obtaining a masters degree in philosophy.
His career began in the scientific research and development department of a pharmaceutical manufacturer, but soon thereafter he discovered a love for community pharmacy. This extended to pharmacotherapy, both as an examiner for Pharmacy Council in the early days and as a practising PCDT pharmacist. He is also actively involved with the North West and Pretoria universities. His interest in the profession led to his involvement in the PSSA, first as a branch member, branch chair and finally as a member of both the SAACP and PSSA national executive committees. Johann served as the President of SAACP in 2008 and 2009, and as the President of the PSSA from 2012 to 2015.
Sybil Seoka’s career path was different. She was a well established hospital pharmacist when she left to pursue further studies at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She graduated first with a Master of Science in pharmacy degree, where her thesis was on drug interactions amongst the non-institutionalised elderly, and then with a PhD in pharmacy, where her dissertation addressed project selection in pharmaceutical research and development, and new product market performance.
Since returning to South Africa, Sybil has predominantly worked in industry, in the positions of scientific affairs associate, business development analyst and corporate liaison prior to going into business for herself.
Johann Kruger receives his Honorary Life Membership certificate from Sarel Malan
The PSSA has benefited from her involvement, as have the various associations and boards with which she has been involved. She is currently the chair of the Professional Provident Society (PPS) Holdings Trust.
Sybil has served on the committees of both the Southern Gauteng and Pretoria branches, and has been actively involved in SAAHIP. She has served on the PSSA national executive committee for many years, and as President of the PSSA from 2009 until 2012.
Congratulations to both Johann and Sybil – the PSSA appreciates the contributions you have made to the PSSA and to the profession.
Honorary Fellowship
Fellowship of the PSSA is an honour reserved for pharmacists who have rendered exceptional service to the PSSA and to the profession of pharmacy. On rare occasions, it is felt that someone who is not a pharmacist has gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the PSSA and/or the profession. Honorary Fellowship is conferred on such people in order to express appreciation for their unique contribution to the PSSA and to pharmacy.
This year, Honorary Fellowship of the PSSA was conferred on Antoinette Snyman, the financial manager of the PSSA’s national office. Antoinette is efficient and effective at doing her work, which includes management not only of the finances but also management of the complex membership system. It must be noted than in her 18 year tenure, every single financial report and audit has been flawless. She willingly and comprehensively
assists not only the PSSA national office, but also the national executive committee, branches, sectors and, importantly, PSSA members.
In paying tribute to Antoinette, Nadine Butler spoke of the sincere appreciation and gratitude that past treasurers and presidents of the PSSA have expressed. In particular, Antoinette always displays leadership, steadfastness, commitment and professionalism, which has enhanced the PSSA. Thank you, Antoinette, and congratulations on making a lasting impression on our Society.
A personal reflection
Kirtan Kasiram
SAAHIP KwaZulu-Natal Coastal
Attending the PSSA conference for the first time has certainly been an experience I will not soon forget. They say you never forget your first and as I reflect back on the three-day conference, I would tend to agree.
Perhaps it was the excellent academic up-to-date content that spoke to me, or the personal attention received at the trade exhibition, where we expanded
our product knowledge and interacted on the practical side of pharmacy. There were so many things I thoroughly enjoyed. Many networking opportunities with some of the Greats in the pharmacy profession and being inspired by enthusiastic up-and-coming pharmacists that are passionate about their work in their sectors.
Sometimes as pharmacists we get caught up in our own field of work but that is insular. Conferences like this help us broaden our scope to see the other puzzle pieces of our profession and how they all fit together.
If the main PSSA conference wasn’t enough, YPG and SAPSF also ran parallel programmes to keep the delegates stimulated with structured talks, debate discussions and fun evening functions. Buzz words like NHI, antibiotic stewardship, use of antibiotics in animals, the pharmacist’s role in vaccinology, were some of my personal favourites and I certainly left this conference inspired and refreshed to tackle my own personal work environment with renewed vigour.
I reflect on the topic of this year’s conference: “failing to plan is planning to fail” and I am grateful that by absorbing the content of this conference, the planning phase is beginning. Planning to be prepared for what lies ahead. For the challenges and changes our profession faces and to know that we do not walk alone…. together we cannot fail. There are certainly some wonderful, great minds in our profession and I feel fortunate to have engaged with some of them. By sharing their work with us, we are all becoming a little better equipped to being ready. The challenges are here and they are ever growing. How will the abstract model of NHI become practical; how will we embrace a multidisciplinary approach; how will we reduce antimicrobial resistance by being ethical and socially conscious professionals? So many questions posed… how????
Together, I believe, as a profession we can tackle it head on.
Stress management
KZN Coastal Branch member Joe Ettershank, owner of Montclair Pharmacy has found a perfect way to take his mind off the issues that pharmacists face daily by going ski boat fishing on weekends. This 20kg King mackerel was caught off the old whaling station near the Bluff in Durban.
To whet your appetite ...
The next issue of the SAPJ will contain more detail on the topics discussed at the conference, but here is a brief outline of the programme.
Practice innovations – Targeting special
interests
This session provided the opportunity to target special interests in the different fields of pharmacy. Speakers presented on innovations and research in their respective practice settings.
Antimicrobial stewardship – Failure to prepare
is preparing to fail
Antibiotic resistance is no longer a prediction for the future – it is happening right now across the world. This limits the options to treat common infections. Global organisations, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), endorse the ongoing fight against antimicrobial resistance. If drastic action is not taken, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill. Pharmacists around the world are participating in Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes.
New additions to the well-known concept of AMS were discussed and delegates were able to evaluate their own progress towards responsible antibiotic use.
Pharmaceutical health care delivery under
Universal Health Coverage
The White Paper on National Health Insurance (NHI) for South Africa describes several shortcomings currently experienced in the South African health care environment. South Africa’s health system is characterised by adversity and a quadruple burden of disease, disproportionately affecting lower socio-economic groups compounded by lower health service utilisation rates. These include HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, high maternal neonatal and child morbidity and mortality, rising disease burden of non-communicable diseases, and high levels of violence and trauma.
The lack of focused health promotion and disease prevention programme and interventions, poor health seeking behaviour and the late detection of diseases are some of the major factors contributing to the high burden of NCDs. This session investigated current approaches to health promotion and disease prevention initiatives as well as the reporting on outcomes of these initiatives.
Hiking the legislative mountain
In the past year, a mountain of legislation applicable to the pharmaceutical environment was published. This includes the amended Medicines and Related Substances Act, new General Medicine Regulations, amendments to the medicine schedules and a plethora of Good Pharmacy Practice standards. In addition, the NHI White Paper was published, which will have far reaching consequences for pharmacists. More changes can be anticipated as draft competency standards were published and comment was requested on proposed changes to the Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicine List, the dispensing fee and the implementation of GTIN-14 datamatrix barcodes.
In the health care environment where patient lives are at stake and where one small mistake may have catastrophic repercussions, one can understand that there is a need for precise legislation. The down side is when legislation is published with contradictory or confusing content, which limits the pharmacist’s ability to execute what is legislated.
How does a pharmacist function in this legislative environment? It is sometimes difficult to stay up to date with legislative changes. This could result in professional errors and consequent disciplinary action by the South African Pharmacy Council. This session focussed on recent legislation applicable to the pharmaceutical environment, the impact on pharmacists and intended purpose thereof.
Turning the table – Supporting pharmacy
support personnel
pharmacist’s assistants. Each category requires a unique approach and focus of training, mentoring and tutoring.
Pharmacy students are required to perform Work Integrated Learning (WIL) during their studies. Certain tasks are performed in practice as part of their learning experience. For this to be successful, the pharmacist should understand the concept of being a preceptor who plays a significant role in shaping the future health care professionals. The same supervision applies to assistants who are enrolled for qualifications.
Pharmacy support personnel make a unique contribution to the health care of South African citizens and the role of a mentoring pharmacist is extremely valuable and irreplaceable. In this session, delegates explored ways to support their staff.
Primary Health Care (PHC) –
Really re-engineered?
Primary Health Care (PHC) will be at the centre of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and will include services such as health promotion, disease prevention, curative services for both acute and chronic diseases, rehabilitation and palliative services. All patients will access the health system through PHC level as the first point of contact, with any health care professional, and will either receive the care they need at this level or will be referred to the next appropriate level of health care services, such as district health services, including specialists and district hospitals. PHC services under the NHI will be provided in public sector clinics, community health centres (CHCs) and multidisciplinary networks of practices in the private sector. PHC services will be comprehensive and integrated, and will be supported by a strong
feedback referral system and planned patient transportation between the levels of care, where appropriate.
In this session the role of PHC in the NHI was debated in order to assist delegates to identify their role in PHC and the NHI.
Where will the money come from?
In South Africa, a variety of reimbursement models exist. From a health systems perspective, these models need to be cost-effective. For pharmacies, they must also provide adequate compensation to enable sustainable access to medicines and delivery of comprehensive pharmacy services, including important public health services.
The proposed remuneration model for the National Health Insurance (NHI), which will be implemented to pay contracted providers at Primary Health Care (PHC) level, will be a risk-adjusted capitation system with an element of performance-based payment. A key issue will be to determine the capitation rate, i.e. the average cost of providing the clinic and community-based services per person.
The White Paper on the NHI claims that a fee-for-service (FFS) will not be used as a mechanism for provider payment at PHC level, because by its nature, payment is limited to one provider for one interaction. At hospital level, payment related to services delivered would be determined through a system of case-mix activity adjusted payments (such as Diagnosis-Related Groups). This session differentiated between the different remuneration models available and the impact of each on sustainable health care delivery.
Sponsors and Exhibitors
Thank you to our generous sponsors and exhibitors – you are truly our partners in our endeavours to ensure that our members remain up to date with current issues that face their daily practice.
Silver sponsors
Aspen Healthcare
Bronze sponsors
Adcock Ingram
A-Thermal
Elsevier
Esco
Forrester Pharma
Lamar
LexisNexis
The PSSA/Alpha Pharm distance learning
programme 2018
The PSSA/Alpha Pharm Distance Learning Programme continues to offer pharmacists useful, practical, up-to-date information that enables them to provide optimal pharmaceutical care to their patients.
Module 3/2018 –
Overview of HIV Infection
and its treatment
This module will enable the pharmacist to have a good and up-to-date understanding of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in South Africa with special reference to:
• How it is transmitted and how transmission can be prevented • Key aspects of pre-exposure prophylaxis in persons at risk of
acquiring HIV-1 infection
• Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) guidelines published by the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society
• Requirements and responsibilities of the community pharmacist as it relates to HIV self-testing
• Recent updates made to the adult antiretroviral therapy guidelines in 2017
• Antiretroviral therapy and the latest combinations
• The role of the community pharmacist in the management of HIV
This module describes the latest treatment guidelines for adults and provides advice on how to manage the potential adverse effects of antiretrovirals. The pharmacist has an important and valuable role to play in educating patients and the public about HIV and in the management of HIV patients as well as actively supporting good adherence to prescribed antiretroviral therapy.
For more information about this programme contact Gill or Glynis at Insight Medicine Information on 011 706 6939 or email: [email protected].
Microsep
MSD
PharmaDynamics
PPS –
exhibitor and sponsorship
Sanofi Pasteur
Specpharm
Stripform Packaging
The Local Choice
Other sponsors Ascendis Pharma – delegate gifts
Mediscor –
delegate gifts and sponsorship
Cipla Medpro – conference programmes
The PSSA/Alpha Pharm clinical education
programme 2018 for pharmacy staff
The PSSA/Alpha Pharm Pharmacy Staff Clinical Education Programme continues to offer front-shop assistants or pharmacist’s assistants up-to-date information that enables them to provide optimal pharmaceutical care to their patients. All pharmacy staff need to be familiar with the use of unscheduled medicines and should be reminded of when it is necessary to refer the patient to the pharmacist.
Module 3/2018 – The basics of HIV and AIDS
HIV is a chronic illness that can readily be treated (as is the case with other chronic illnesses) and people infected with HIV can live a long and normal life if they adhere to their treatment and have regular visits to the doctor or clinic. It is important to understand how HIV is transmitted and the precautions that need to be taken to minimise its spread. It is also important to know one’s HIV status and patients should be encouraged to test for HIV. There are many myths surrounding HIV and these also need to be dispelled. The pharmacy front shop member of staff has a duty to promote the health and wellbeing of all patients. This means that they need
to have the best interest and wellbeing of customers and patients in mind at all times.
This module will enable the front shop staff member to:
• Have a basic overview of the current HIV and AIDS epidemic in South Africa
• Have a basic understanding of HIV and AIDS
• Understand how HIV is spread (transmitted) and how transmission can be prevented
• Be aware of the requirements and responsibilities of pharmacy personnel as it relates to HIV self-testing
• Have a basic understanding of the approach taken when treating HIV and AIDS
• Be familiar with requirements for healthy lifestyle choices for people living with HIV and AIDS
