It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve as your Registrar for the 2017/2018 fiscal year.
We now have 1425 pharmacies, 6079 pharmacists and 1510 pharmacy technicians serving the public in BC. As a self-governing profession, we bring our unique perspective and expertise to governing the pharmacy profession in the public interest.
This is truly a privilege that society has granted us, and we take this responsibility very seriously. Government has given us this right, and the courts have supported this by deferring to us in determining our bylaws.
This is truly a privilege that society has granted us, and we take this responsibility very seriously. Government has given us this right, and the courts have supported this by deferring to us in determining our bylaws.
2017 was not without its challenges. We continue to find ourselves in the midst of an ever-growing opioid crisis. In just 2 years, the number of overdose deaths in BC has more than tripled. 2017 saw 1,448 illicit drug overdose deaths, more than 80% of which involved Fentanyl. These past few years have seen us working hard to combat the rise of opioid-related deaths by increasing both access to and education about naloxone in BC.
Back in 2016, we amended BC’s Drug Schedules Regulation to unschedule naloxone, making it available to anyone without a prescription; and it’s encouraging to see the work done by some of our collaborators that builds on this. In early 2017, the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, released a new guideline for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder, recommending Buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®) as the preferred first-line pharmacotherapy for treating patients with an opioid use disorder. Further, in December 2017, the Take Home Naloxone program was expanded to community pharmacies, making free-of-charge kits more easily accessible for those who may need them. There are now close to 800 participating pharmacies.
I’m also pleased to report that the College has completed and implemented the new pharmacy ownership requirements, allowing us to identify and regulate pharmacy owners. This represents a huge leap forward in our mandate of protecting patient safety by removing risk. While the vast majority of pharmacy owners are good and ethical people, it is important that we have systems in place to ensure that the public is protected against those that may not be.
Finally, on March 1, 2017, as part of BC’s 23 health regulators, I pledged the College’s commitment to making our health system more culturally safe for First Nations and Aboriginal People. Protecting patient safety means removing barriers to access, and that means addressing systemic racism and discrimination. In the past year, we’ve developed a strategy for how we will take action on our commitment, sought input from First Nations on what cultural safety and humility within BC pharmacies should look like, and published numerous articles and resources for registrants looking to incorporate cultural safety and humility into their practice. I’m happy that we’ve taken this first step toward creating a healthcare system free of racism and discrimination and I look forward to continuing to work toward fair and equal health services for all in the years to come.
It’s been a great year for the College. We’ve made significant progress in our continuing efforts to advancing and improving patient care, and I have no doubt that the coming year will bring further growth to the pharmacy profession in BC.
Sincerely,
Bob Nakagawa, Registrar, College of Pharmacists of British Columbia
