A four-day workshop on the roles of pharmacists in Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) control was conducted in Jakarta on 21-24 July 2019. This workshop was a continuation of an initial workshop held in May earlier this year which was attended by representatives from the top 14 high-burden provinces. In this second workshop, the participants were hospitals and community pharmacists from the remaining 20 provinces. There were also presentations and demonstration sessions from the Ministry of Health, WHO, Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI), National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and various hospitals and universities.
DR-TB treatment has been implemented in Indonesia since 2009, yet it remains a major public health problem. To be effective, it requires administering multiple drugs over a long period of time. Because it is an elongated process, not all DR-TB patients can successfully finish the whole course of treatment – placing themselves and others at risk of (re)infection. Indonesian evaluation data from 2013-2015 showed that successful DR-TB treatment completion rate was around 50% with some patients deciding to discontinue their treatment due to experiencing negative side effects of the medicines involved.
The National TB Programme believes that building capacity of health care professionals, especially pharmacists in TB control, could potentially benefit the success and effectiveness of the programme.
Therefore, a four-day workshop on the roles of pharmacists in Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) control was conducted. During the workshop, several key points on how pharmacists can support the national TB programme were raised and agreed upon. Pharmacists are encouraged to be involved in improving the accuracy of TB identification by conducting cough screenings on patients and referring likely TB cases to healthcare facilities for proper diagnosis. Once patients are diagnosed, pharmacists can provide DOT (directly observed treatment) and offer information on anti-TB drugs. Pharmacists can also ensure that prescriptions on anti-TB drugs follow the national guidelines and assist to identify and manage any side effects of medications as early as possible. Pharmacists are encouraged to provide support counselling to patients to improve compliance and completion of treatment, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the National TB Programme.
Caption: The National TB Program formulated nine key points on how pharmacists can benefit the TB programme in managing TB drug resistance. Source: Dr. Imran Pambudi, National TB Program Manager, Ministry of Health.
It is expected that active participation from pharmacists in the above-mentioned activities will lead to improving the accuracy of TB diagnosis, better management of adverse drug reactions and improved treatment outcomes.
At the end of the workshop a follow-up action plan and commitment were drafted and signed by all participants, including the Ministry of Health, in the spirit of unified efforts to reduce TB cases nationally.
Caption: Workshop discussion in action.
Photo credit: Jonathan Marbun/WHO
Main image: Jonathan Marbun/WHO