Year 1986… These were the years when industrial drug manufacturing was at its peak. Consequently, drug preparation in pharmacies began to decline gradually, and physicians’ practice of writing magistral prescriptions also steadily decreased…
Pharmacists in developed countries with the highest standards of pharmacy education launched their initial efforts in 1986 to halt the decline of community pharmacists becoming estranged from compounding medicines in their workplaces. Although the same initiative was brought to the agenda in our country in October of the same year by the Turkish Pharmacists’ Association (TEB) under the title of “Drug Production in Pharmacies” and some work was carried out, unfortunately no meaningful progress has been achieved to date.
This issue, which originated in developed countries and reached our agenda with a six-month delay, was politically undermined due to the word “PRODUCTION” in its title; distorted and eroded by those who deemed production and productivity unfitting for pharmacists, thereby hindering and delaying the attainment of the level seen in modern countries… Whereas, “Production in the pharmacy is actually about elevating ongoing magistral compounding to a contemporary level.”
Considering the public interest from an economic perspective and enhancing patient treatment quality, “Magistral production“—the art of the pharmacist—which will prevent the frequent emergence of pharmacy models in which the pharmacist is rendered insignificant today, is gaining ever-greater importance across the world.
Compounding medicines, namely magistral formulas in our pharmacies, has been carried out continuously since pharmacy professional education reached an academic level. The preparation of medicines by pharmacists retains its place in currently applicable pharmacy laws. It is not possible to prepare drugs in pharmacies merely upon patient request. However, the fact that physicians in our country write few magistral prescriptions reduces magistral compounding in pharmacies, leading to a decline in pharmacists’ practical knowledge.
Looking at the present day;
In drug compounding processes, the pharmacist is the only link or individual who has received university-level education on this subject… However, pharmacists experience a serious lack of resources to develop the fundamental pharmaceutical technology knowledge they acquired at university.
When preparing magistral compounds in pharmacies, they cannot find an interlocutor to consult regarding the resolution of incompatibilities and problems arising in prescriptions.
They need quality assurance that will provide standardization in the raw materials used in compounding medicines.
They urgently need a pricing system where they can receive fair compensation for their labor when preparing magistral products.
The pharmacist needs laboratory models in their pharmacy where magistral products can be compounded using modern technological equipment.
They are discouraged by the deductions resulting from rules that are left to the discretion of auditing pharmacists during prescription inspections by the SGK (Social Security Institution), the largest buyer, and that vary from region to region.
Driven by these needs, the desire to organize a Magistral Congress in our country has moved beyond a need and become practically an imperative.
I hope that this congress will serve as a starting point for relaunching the Magistral Process, which was initiated with great hope in our country in 1986 but could not be sustained due to various reasons.
On April 5–8, under the leadership of Farmazi Academy, hosted by the Konya Chamber of Pharmacists, and with the participation of esteemed professors from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Magistral production—the art of the pharmacist—will be discussed and debated in all its aspects.
At the congress, I believe that presentations offering extensive useful information—from sessions where physicians who include magistral formulas in their prescriptions share the formulations they have written for various diseases and the results they have obtained, to the knowledge most needed by pharmacists when preparing magistral prescriptions and the resolution of encountered problems—will be followed with great interest…
I would also like to announce that at this congress, at the stands set up by our supplier companies, you will be able to see the chemicals sought after in the sector, and ointment jars and colored glass bottles of various sizes needed for the packaging of magistral production will be exhibited for the first time.
While visiting the magistral laboratory section to be established by EGAŞ, an enterprise of our professional organization, we will be able to watch the compounding of various preparations throughout the congress and find answers to our questions. In this section, which I believe is important for inspiring pharmacists as they renovate their own laboratories, we will also be able to see modern laboratory devices.
On the final day, as we tour Konya, a city of history and culture, we will better understand why our Magistral-themed congress is being held in this city.
After visiting the museum of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the most important figures of Turkish-Islamic civilization who called humanity to tolerance and brotherhood, we will visit the village of Sille. During the period when life moved into caves, just as in Cappadocia, due to the violence inflicted on Christians by the Roman Empire, more than 200 caves—where an estimated 500 people lived to escape Roman oppression—were used for years as homes, churches, stables, and even graves. Today, we will still see the traces of the life lived in those caves during that era.
Following lunch at the Zade Vital factory, we will conclude the touristic tour of our congress by visiting the park featuring Europe’s largest butterfly flight area (a 2,000-square-meter open butterfly flight area within a 4,000-square-meter enclosed space).
HOPING TO MEET IN KONYA ON APRIL 5–8….
Spec. Pharm. Ahmet Nezihi Pekcan
Pekcan Pharmacy – Konya
[email protected]
Tel: (332) 3520657
http://www.majistralformul.com/
