WASHINGTON – The American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) hasawarded its prestigious Donald E. Francke Medal to eminent Pakistanipharmacist and expert Abdul Latif Sheikh for making a change in the fieldof clinical pharmacy and using his expertise in saving thousands of lives.
Sheikh is the president of the Pakistan Society of Health SystemPharmacists (PSHP), the first Asian and only Pakistani to receive theDonald E Francke Medal.
The ASHP has given the prestigious medal and award to only 22 pharmacistsof the world since 1971.
Sheikh served as World Health Organisation’s (WHO) advisor on medicines,worked in African, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries, Afghanistanand the United States before moving to Pakistan, where he established theclinical pharmacy department at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH),Karachi.
Serving as chief pharmacist of the AKUH, Sheikh helped the Aga KhanHospital in acquiring the prestigious JCI accreditation at a time when nohealthcare facility in the country was having the accreditation, consideredas a mandatory requirement for an international standard healthcarefacility.
Congratulating him on receiving the prestigious medal and award, SindhHealth Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho said it was an honour for Pakistanthat one of its leading pharmacists had bagged the international award. Hevowed that the government would recommend his name for the highest civilaward in the field of medicine and public service.
He said thousands of people were dying due to medication errors by usingwrong or lookalike drugs, which needed immediate attention, and asked theeminent pharmacist to assist the government in preparing a safe drugdelivery system in the healthcare sector. “We would definitely require theservices of Mr Sheikh, who has raised the flag of Pakistan in the world.”
People from other walks of life, including officials of the Drug RegulatoryAuthority of Pakistan (DRAP), Aga Khan University Hospital, the provincialdrug secretariat and pharmaceutical industry, also congratulated Sheikh onthe clinching the medal, and hoped that he would continue to strive for thebetterment of pharmacy services in Pakistan.
The chief executive officer of the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP), ShaikhAkhtar Hussain, said the regulatory authority would try to learn from theexperiences of Sheikh in improving pharmacy services in Pakistan, and urgedhim to assist the authority in its recent campaign against spurious,counterfeit and smuggled drugs.