On the 27th of September, the School of Pharmacy, BRAC University and Renata Limited jointly organized World Pharmacists Week 2023 with the slogan “Pharmacists strengthening health systems.” Professor Dr. Eva Rahman Kabir, Dean, School of Pharmacy gave the welcome speech and the day’s event was inaugurated by Dr. David Dowland, Registrar, BRAC University. A series of events including a Roundtable Discussion on the topic followed by Debate Competition and Research Proposal presentations were organized as part of the celebration.
Top academic and industry personnel who are leading advancement of the health system in Bangladesh participated in the roundtable discussion. The discussion centered around how pharmacists can help in the healthcare system and make it more sustainable for the future. Professor Dr. Hasina Yasmin and Professor Dr. Sharmind Neelotpol were the facilitators of the session. Dr. Syed Umar Khyyam, Public Health Expert mentioned that pharmacists are the guardians of medicine and they should be advocating in the authority level to ensure pharmaceutical quality and understanding of regulatory practices.
Mr. Tanbir Sajib, Chief Marketing Officer - Renata Limited, added how the identity of a pharmacist is also very important and urged the students partaking in the event to embrace it. He explained how crucial concepts and research like Bioequivalent medicine in the healthcare industry are led by pharmacists and as pharmacists the young should take charge in proper dissemination of medicine related knowledge.
This discussion was continued with a segment asking questions such as, “Where are hospital and retail pharmacists in Bangladesh?”. As an example, it was mentioned that around 160 pharmaceutical scientists are working at Renata Limited, many alumni of School of Pharmacy are working in the top positions of the industry, and moreover pharmacists are getting stringent market approval for Bangladeshi medicinal products but the retail practice of pharmacy seems to be absent in Bangladesh. Ms. Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi, Molecular Biologist & CEO - Eskegen Ltd., said that pharmacists play an integral role in all stages of the industry, from drug development and registration to pharmacovigilance in both industry and retail. Mr. Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, GM Marketing - Incepta Pharmaceuticals Limited, agreed by stating that pharmacists have a role to play wherever there is medicine involved.
When Professor Dr. Eva Rahman Kabir, Dean of School of Pharmacy -BRAC University raised the topic of pharmacist’s role in multidisciplinary healthcare system Dr. Malay Kanti Mridha, Professor of James P Grant School of Public Health - BRAC University recalled the importance of human resource planning in the healthcare system and built on top of it
by stating that pharmacists also have the potential in public health sectors as they will be able to generate real-world data.
The session ended with ideas of arranging bootcamps in the future for training of young pharmacists. A final note of thanks was circulated around to the esteemed experts for their invaluable time and effort to make the Roundtable event a success.
Shortly after concluding the Roundtable session there was a Debate Competition between current students of School of Pharmacy, BRAC University on health system related topics and Research Proposal presentations. As a celebration of 30 years of Renata Limited, three research grants were awarded to young pharmacy researchers. The event closed with a note of thanks from Professor Dr. Hasina Yasmin, Assistant Dean & Program Director, School of Pharmacy, BRAC University.