The Higher Population Council and the Pharmacists Syndicate held a scientific meeting with the participation of a number of pharmacists registered in the Pharmacists Syndicate from various governorates. The meeting opened by the President of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Dr. Mohammad Al-Ababneh, who affirmed the syndicate’s openness to national institutions and local communities to provide medical information and medicines to citizens, with its keenness to implement new scientific knowledge building among the members of the Syndicate through enduring medical education initiatives.
Dr. Al-Ababneh indicated that strengthening the role of pharmacists in the field of family planning is important, that is because citizens resort to pharmacies near their homes to seek advice in general and information about family planning methods in particular. And he indicated that the application of professional counseling standards plays an important role in raising the rate of using modern methods of family planning that can be obtained from pharmacies by married couples who wish to do so.
The Secretary-General of the Higher Population Council, Prof. Dr. Issa Al-Masarouh, confirmed that this scientific meeting comes within the endeavor to strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors in reproductive health services, and in particular about fulfilling the desires of married couples in the field of regulating childbearing. Whereas, the meeting aimed to find participatory ways to enhance the role of pharmacists in the birth control program in Jordan and to increase the role of pharmacist advice in this regard.
During his presentation regarding the Jordanian demographic landscape and the needs expressed by married couples to organize their families, Al-Masarouh stressed the importance of meeting these needs through advice and quality service, especially since pharmacies are spread in all local communities, available most hours of the day and night, and do not witness crowds, which provides an opportunity that is not available in health clinics, to provide free advice and to answer the frequent questions while respecting their privacy.
During the workshop, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Higher Population Council, Rania Al Abbadi, gave a presentation on childbearing in Jordan, its levels, variations, means of regulation, and its source. During the workshop, a presentation was made by the Director of the Women and Child Directorate at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Hadeel Al Sa’yeh, on the regulation of childbearing in the Jordanian family from a medical perspective with regard to its means and sources of services.
In addition, Dr. Sara Al Aitan from the Institute for Family Health Care reviewed the role of professional health counseling in Jordan - the current status and the available and missed opportunities in the field of increasing knowledge, changing behavior and excluding incorrect thoughts. As well, A presentation was made by a member of the Council of Pharmacists, Dr. Salah Al Deen Qandel, on the role of pharmacies in reaching out to the community, particularly in the field of regulating childbearing.
The participants recommended the necessity of continuing to implement scientific activities to increase the knowledge of pharmacists in the various governorates of the Kingdom and to activate their role in providing primary health care services, which is a key pillar of the national health system, accompanied by the provision of integrated advice on the importance and benefits of family planning methods within the standards of preserving the privacy of those who go to the pharmacies, and work to provide pharmacists with national educational materials on family planning methods, with the development of scientific media materials to familiarize those who go to the pharmacies with family planning methods, and the implementation of awareness workshops in all governorates for citizens in cooperation with pharmacists, and linking these activities with the initiatives implemented by the specialized committees in the Syndicate.
