Pharmacist National Day
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There are two special days on the Portuguese pharmacist's calendar. The first is celebrated on 25 September - it is the World Pharmacist Day, introduced by the International Pharmaceutical Federation. The second, on the following day, 26 September, the day of its patron saints Cosmas and Damian - is the Pharmacist National Day. In a solemn session, this time in Coimbra, the Pharmacists Association celebrated the two dates, reflecting on the role of pharmacists and praising the professionals and students who stood out the most.

The pharmaceutical celebration took place in the contingency environment that the pandemic requires, but it did not fail to talk about what has been achieved, such as the pharmaceutical career in the NHS and the Pharmaceutical Residency for initiation to the profession in units that provide health care; or about what we still need to achieve, such as the valuation of the pharmaceutical act or the need to integrate clinical teams, whether in an inpatient setting or in home visits.  Pharmacists have more and more responsibilities in the administration and management of the health technology that drugs represent. The strengthening of their role as a guarantor of safety and quality is particularly noticeable to the person in the context of illness, the caregiver and the general population, whether the profession is carried out in a pharmacy, in a health unit, in a laboratory for clinical and genetic analysis, at a university, or at a research centre.

The pharmacist's responsibilities involve interventions in areas as diverse as research and development, regulation, inspection, advising. Pharmacists support the development of health, education, information policies to promote literacy and the judicious use of available resources, among others.

The pharmacist has responsibilities in regulatory science, in assessing the quality, efficacy and safety of medicines and other health technologies prior to their introduction to the market and in monitoring their post-sales effectiveness and safety. He is also responsible for the execution, analytical and bio-pathological validation and interpretation of clinical and human genetic tests in moments associated with the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of human pathology.

Today, the broad-spectrum academic training of pharmacists has contributed to their professional opportunities being in greater number, particularly with regard to clinical trials, research and the formulation of innovative medicines, but also in new care niches, such as residential structures for the elderly, day care centres, the area of addictive behaviours or even the forensic area, to give some examples.

Pharmacists have gained an image of partners with a collaborative attitude, always seeking to be the solution rather than the problem. It is on this path that we must continue claiming the respect due to us for the work carried out and the availability that we have never spared nor will we spare on behalf of the citizens we serve and of a country that wants to be modern, safe and caring.

mulher a sorrir

Ana Paula Martins

President of the Pharmacists Association