29
Jan

Despite heavy investment in health resources, public facilities are inadequate to the health needs of people. Especially most outpatient departments are always seen packed and long queuing. In Thailand, most public hospitals are overcrowded, waiting just for medications can be up to half a day in general or regional hospitals. Drugstores have been used as a means for self-care and self-medication of individuals who do not want to go to a hospital.

Drugstores in developed countries serve customers according to prescription and non-prescription drugs. Switching medicines to non-prescription has been evident in countries that want to promote affordable self-care practices. Wider ranges of non-prescription drugs also contributed to cost savings to insurers and the government. A study in the US showed that each dollar spent on over the counter medicines for self-treating conditions, such as common cold, allergies, pain, bowel and sleep issues, save at least 7 USD to the US health system. In the UK, system pressure is associated with long waiting time, high burden on GPs and nurses which affect staffing levels of those working in the profession. This situation has facilitated utilization of professional expertise of pharmacists.

From 2023, as part of a nationwide pilot scheme funded by NHS England, community pharmacists are allowed to diagnose patients with a few medical conditions which are normally done by GPs. These include hypertension, high cholesterol, contraception, and minor illnesses. Some provinces in Canada also have pharmacist prescribing in order to promote access to health service and reducing workloads on other health practitioners.