Dean of the UGM Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Marchaban, DESS, Apt., inaugurated 54 new pharmacists at the University Club (UC), Thursday (24/2). They consisted of 15 men and 39 women. Thus, up until now the Faculty of Pharmacy has inaugurated 5612 pharmacists.
In his speech, Marchaban said that the profession as pharmacists is now much more attractive to women than men. Nearly two-thirds of UGM pharmacist graduates are woman. "The members of Pharmacists Association of Indonesia (IAI) are the same, the majority of them are women," he said.
In front of the new pharmacist, Marchaban said that pharmacist profession is a profession that becomes the spearhead of the community healthcare because it provides protection to consumers of drugs. Therefore, the pharmacist should be able to practice his/her knowledge as well as possible by promoting excellent accountability and service. "Currently, the availability and affordability of drugs remain a problem and have not reached all corners of the region," he said.
The pharmacist according to government regulations, among others, has full authority in the pharmacy services and is responsible in terms of drug management, distribution, up until the application of drugs to consumers.
On the occasion, Marchaban present the results of a survey in America that showed that pharmacist is the third of the 10 most trusted professions by the community in the respective country. "The order of five of the most trusted profession is nurses, teachers, pharmacists, police, and doctors. Perhaps, in our society the result will be different, but we expect this trend to break out in Indonesia," he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Pharmacists Association of Indonesia (IAI), Drs. M. Dani Pratomo, M.M, Apt., criticized the drug price increases that occurred within the last few years. According to Dani, the high price of drugs in Indonesia is the fifth in the list of countries with the highest drug prices in the world. "In the four countries, the drug service is covered by insurance, but in Indonesia, the purchase of drugs has to be paid by the patient," he said.
To cope with the increasing drug prices, he urged the government to make a regulation to cut drug distribution mechanism and reduce the prices. Furthermore, the distribution of drugs from manufacturers through distributors is only sold to a pharmacist. "Because currently the distribution of illegal drugs is much more than the legal one, as a result the drug service became irrational," he said.