IMPORTANCE OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMIST IN THE FACE OF SELF-MEDICATION

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of health problems have been observed that have put the health system at risk, including the irrational use of drugs and self-medication without medical indication in Chile and in the world, which can cause severe adverse reactions and in extreme cases lead to death, It is here where lies the importance of the Pharmaceutical Chemist, as promoters of an informed dispensing of medicines in order to ensure the desired therapeutic effects, because although the drug is a social good, essential for public health; it should not be conceptualized as a mere consumer good. The transcendence of the use of medicines in human life makes it indispensable for the State to control all phases of the generation of the pharmaceutical product, including dispensing, through pharmacovigilance systems, policies and regulations on medicines. In the absence of medical supervision, adverse effects arise of which the patient is unaware, generating problems of varying degrees of severity.