The Opening Ceremony of 18th Singapore Pharmacy Congress

01 Jul 2006

By Mr Heng Chee How, Minister of State for Health

Venue: Furama Riverfront Hotel

Mr Ng Cheng Tiang

President, Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore.

Associate Professor Chan Sui Yung and Ms Lim Siew Woon

Co-Chairpersons, Congress Organising Committee

Friends,

Good evening. I'm delighted to join you at this 18th Singapore Pharmacy Congress. To our overseas delegates, I extend a warm welcome to Singapore.

Congress Theme: "Patient-centred Practice, Innovation-centred Research"

The theme of this Congress is "Patient-Centred Practice, Innovation-Centred Research". The focus on the patient is an important one, and this Congress will be an excellent platform for experts and professionals in pharmacy to interact, discuss and update one another on relevant trends and issues.

Patient-centred Practice

In Singapore, as in all developed countries, the value of planning and practising around the customer will increase over time. This is also the case with pharmacy. And the relevance of doing so is manifested in a number of ways.

First, the quality of service improves. Every patient's set of medical conditions is unique. Thus, every prescription is also personalised. Pharmacists check that medications have been correctly prescribed, properly dispensed and advice on their consumption given rightly and in ways that are well understood by the patients. In so doing, good pharmacists help ensure that the efficacy of medication is optimised for each patient. They are gate-keepers to the patients' recovery and peace of mind.

Second, pharmacists help patients save time and money. Pharmacists in community practice are easily reached by patients. They are also trusted as skilled professionals. This credibility gives them the ability to advise patients and the public on ways to prevent diseases, relapses and to promote a healthy lifestyle. They also play a vital role in checking hazardous self-medication and in helping to refer those who need medical treatment to the right healthcare provider.

For example, when dealing with chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and stroke, all the investigations, diagnoses and prescriptions will come to nought if the treatment is poorly managed by the health care provider or the patient. On the other hand, help with proper management and declassification of more "Prescription Only" medicines to "Pharmacy Only" medicines will present pharmacists with more options to help patients deal with ailments.

Pharmacists should work with physicians to reduce polypharmacy and help educate and counsel patients to take their medicines as prescribed, so that the outcomes are best for them. For countries facing an aging population, which is the case for most developed nations, this makes an even bigger difference to society.

By leveraging on the strengths of their profession and access to knowledge of medicines and the healthcare network, pharmacists can hugely reduce the missteps by patients. This directly helps patients cut down on confusion, wasted time and unnecessary expenses.

Innovation-centred Research

Third, proper focus in basic, translational and clinical research will help invent better medicines to help patients live long and live well. So will improved and more efficient models of pharmacy services.

In Singapore, the pharmaceutical industry is expanding rapidly and is a key economic sector. More and more pharmaceutical plants, R&D bases, operational HQs and contract analytical labs for testing pharmaceuticals are being set up. A whole range of jobs, from trained pharmacists to scientists to industry managers is springing up in response to this positive development. This augurs very well for the industry and the profession.

Conclusion

It is therefore a most useful and appropriate theme that the Congress has chosen to deliberate on. I congratulate the organising committee for a job well done, and I wish you all a most productive and successful Congress.

Thank you.