Sunday (13/11), third semester students to FF UNAIR professions enthusiastically attended the Chemistry (Career in Pharmaceutical Industry) event by PT Kalbe Consumer Health in UNAIR FF Hall. Chemistry is also broadcast via ZOOM Meeting. This event did not only focus on career presentations in the industry, but also the job prospects of pharmacists in terms of being carried out quite intensively during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely self medication.
Presentation of material on Pharmacists and Self Medication by Dr. Yunita Nita, S.Si., M.Pharm., Apt. start a sharing session. He explained the definition of self-medication, namely drugs that can be used on their own initiative or often called over-the-counter medicine (OTC). Yunita also mentioned the reasons for choosing self-medication, such as time efficiency and cost for doctor’s services, patients feel that the disease is not severe, experience, trust, and convenience. However, self-medication is also prone to errors, for example an incorrect diagnosis can lead to contraindications and combinations of over-the-counter drugs can cause antagonistic effects. Another mistake is the way the drug is used and stored.
“Pharmacists have a big role in self-medication,” he said. The pharmacist is responsible for choosing the appropriate drug and advises the patient to see a doctor if the condition worsens. Pharmacists are also authorized to limit the purchase of self-medication drugs in large quantities. This is related to the storage and stability of the drug which is feared by patients to pay less attention.
The sharing session was continued by Ivone Tri Susanti, General Manager of Kalbe Consumer Health. He mentioned that information technology has influenced the development of self-medication in the world. “The trend going forward is that consumers will start preventive, promotive, and have a better lifestyle,” he said. This development should be accompanied by an increase in the quality and effectiveness of drug services. Drug service technology is expected to be able to solve the problem of drug distribution more quickly and precisely.
On the other hand, the success of therapy is also influenced by the accuracy of the dose and the genetics of the drug. In some developed countries, treatment is preceded by genetic testing to increase the chances of success of the drug against problems. In Indonesia, some have started using this method. Again, such sophisticated technology can only be obtained from Uncle Sam’s country.
In the Future Self Medication Trend session, Ivone shows several videos on the sophistication of health services in developed countries. One of them is the free drug service with a vending machine. This was once a concern that the role of pharmacists could be replaced by machines. However, it seems that behind modern health services, there are pharmacists who think about and design all the workings of these machines. Thus, the role of pharmacists will still be needed in the future.
