Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Pharmacy Dean Prof. Dr. Müberra Koşar released an article on the occasion of 14 May Pharmacy Day. Prof. Dr. Koşar included the following statements in her article:
"In this process where the whole world is struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of healthcare staff and investments in health has once again become apparent. We bow respectfully in respect to all the healthcare staff, especially our colleagues, Pharmacists, who lost their lives during this pandemic.
Today is 14 May Turkish Pharmacy Day. A Pharmacy class was opened under Mektebi Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane on 14 May 1839 in order to provide the first independent education for the Pharmacy profession in Turkey. For this reason, 14 May, which is the anniversary of the beginning of pharmacy education in Turkey, has been celebrated as Pharmacy Day since 1968.
Pharmacists who know their patients in daily life serve as health consultants. Not only medicines, but even also the most beneficial foods can be harmful if attention is not paid. Drug use is an issue that requires a lot of attention. Presentation of the drug to the patient and counseling service is highly important. Unfortunately, even nowadays, it is common to use medicines unconsciously with the advice of neighbors or friends in the society. This is very harmful in terms of public health and economy. At this stage, the importance of the pharmacy profession is better understood. Herbal teas or cosmetic products used for treatment can be as harmful as medicines. For this reason, it is very important to buy such products from pharmacies under the consultancy of pharmacists to protect our health. Because the only professional group that receives all scientific training on such products is pharmacists. In this regard, Pharmacies and Pharmacists are the most reliable healthcare organizations and members that provide uninterrupted public service.
The pharmacy profession and pharmacists are among the most important building blocks of the primary healthcare sector. Pharmacists belong to the only occupational group that has the authority to take part in and control all stages from pharmaceutical raw material production to the final product. In our country, the drug production authority belongs only to the pharmacists. Our profession, which is at the basis of the doctor-patient-pharmacist triangle, is also a social profession working for the benefit of the public health. Today, pharmacy is shifting from being a mortar pharmacy to other pharmaceutical-related fields where pharmacists should be involved. The most important of these are Clinical Pharmacy, Research Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Marketing Sector Pharmacy. Today, Clinical Pharmacists are employed in health institutions where treatment is carried out in order to prevent the use of wrong drugs and to prevent material and moral damage caused by drug use. Because it is the pharmacists who know the medicine. In addition, many diseases that threaten public health occur today. Pharmaceutical R&D and Pharmacists are once again seen in the development of new drugs to be used for their treatment. This is because it is the pharmacist who knows the medicine in every aspect. Nowadays, pharmaceutical production sectors prefer pharmacists both in production and marketing of the produced drug because it is the pharmacist who knows the medicine and its production. Because of all these developments, Pharmacy has started to shift to other fields. This is essential for public health and safety.
On the occasion of Pharmacy Day, we extend our best wishes to all Pharmacists and Pharmacist candidates, who provide this important and indispensable Public and Social Health Service even under the most difficult conditions we are in, and wish to be together in many Pharmacy Days where we will have the value and place we deserve. "
