ESM Pharmacist (Afikpo LGA) at Excellence Community Education Welfare Scheme Ltd/Gte (ECEWS)

Job Description

• The main responsibility will be to provide pharmaceutical care services and support medication adherence counseling services within the communities.

Area 1: Delivery of pharmaceutical & commodity supply chain services in support of quality Antiretroviral Therapy (ART):

• Maintain adequate health commodity supply chain both within the ESM site and the supported facilities within the senatorial zone.
• Ensure efficiency and optimization of all the DSD Models
• Dispense Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and other medication in line with approved regimens and standards.
• Dispense ARVs in appropriate packaging with clear instructions.
• Provide medication-related counseling, including reinforcing adherence and advising on potential side effects and drug interactions.
• Provide drug information to health service providers and clients on request.
• Identify and support follow-up of clients who do not return refills of their ARVs.
• Work with providers and clients to identify, manage, and report adverse drug reactions and drug interactions.
• Contribute to decision-making on treatment and care for individual clients.
• Ensure Good Pharmaceutical Practice (GPP) and standards.
• Calculate drug storage needs for ART start-up and expansion.
• Monitor ARV and other drug (STIs, OIs, etc.) stock levels communicate with the project team for re-stocking.
• Contribute to forecasting /quantification of health commodities and monitoring of drug distributions.
• Oversee drug logistics i.e., stock-taking, proper drug storage, drug stock out and monitor the effectiveness of the pull system.

Area 2: Internal and External Quality Control Systems:

• Assess the functionality of existing pharmaceutical management systems and develop implementation plans that prioritize and address gaps.
• Oversee quality assurance systems at the facilities by close monitoring of prescription patterns, ensuring proper documentation, side effects monitoring (pharmacovigilance) and reducing dispensing errors.
• Identify needs for information resources—for example, ART guidelines and drug information for medication counselling.

Area 3: Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Monitor and report medication errors, suspected adverse reactions to medicines, and other medication-related events.
• Monitor ART prescriptions for appropriateness and any discrepancies.
• Monitor adherence to ARVs; working with clients and other health service providers to address challenges.
• Address emerging problems as client numbers increase.
• Monitor and report weekly enrolment.
• Provide support to the Strategic Information (SI) unit to conduct research (qualitative and quantitative) surveys on service delivery outcomes for HIV prevention, care, and treatment.
• Ensure timely submission of quality reports on a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly basis or as required.
• Maintain transaction records and inventory management tools as required to ensure transparency in commodity management records.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of logistics reports to facilitate stock replenishment and accountability.

Area 4: Other assignments:

• Participate in cluster coordinating meetings and represent the project at relevant fora.
• Carry out any assignment as may be decided and delegated by the Supervisor.

Minimum Recruitment Standard

• A Pharmacist with at least 1 - 2 years’ experience in TBHIV management.
• Must have a current practising license.Good Knowledge of computers with the ability in Microsoft Excel for simple data analysis.