Pharmacist

Position: Pharmacist

Responsible To: PC

Directly Managing: Dispensers and Vaccinators

Location: Tharparkar-Sindh

Gender: Male/Female

Start Date: ASAP

Context and Background

Merlin is the UK’s leading international health charity, sending medical experts to the frontline of global emergencies and staying on to build lasting health systems. We entered Pakistan in 2005 after an earthquake in Jammu Kashmir left 75,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. Since then we have expanded to provide a wide range of primary health care, malaria control, family planning, post abortion care and nutrition services to over 2.2 million people. We currently support 110 health facilities and ten hospitals, and have scaled up in times of emergency including the devastating floods of 2010 and 2011.

In Sindh, the province was worst affected by the floods of 2010 and hit again by severe rains in 2011, Merlin is providing health, nutrition and RH services in district Thatta, Badin, Dadu and Tharparkar. This includes treatment centres for communicable diseases like diarrhea, feeding programmes for severely and moderately malnourished children and vaccinations to protect children under the age of 5 from diseases such as polio.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, we are working in the Swat Valley, Peshawar, Buner and Nowshera districts – areas which are still confronting political instability, widespread militancy and displacement in wake of the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan. Merlin has provided emergency healthcare to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Jalozai camp since 2009, which were scaled up at the start of 2012 following an influx of IDPs from Khyber Agency. As people return to the Swat valley, we are working with government of Pakistan to strengthen the country’s health system, including training lady health workers to provide family planning advice in an effort to stem maternal mortality

Overall Responsibilities:

1 OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under general supervision of PC, provides pharmacy services to the first aid point and medical team members. Fills drug orders, requisitions, and way bills dispenses medicines, advise the Merlin health team regarding the nature and use of drugs, and train and/or supervise pharmacy staff at various sites. Prepare and maintain all necessary records on drugs purchased, received dispatched and inventory.

2 SPECIFIC TASKS & DUTIES:

1. Liaises with Logistics Procurement department regarding drugs and medical supplies orders, buffer stocks and distribution to the Health Facilities/ clinics in a timely manner
2. Advise medical practitioners on drug indications/contraindications, dosage, drug interactions, and side effects; provides other drug and pharmaceutical information as appropriate
3. Oversees the acquisition (prepares drug orders) and disbursement of drugs and medical supplies to Merlin supported first aid clinics and Merlin field sites, under direction of Project Coordinator, ensuring maintenance of cold chain as necessary and monitoring drug consumption
4. Provides guidance and training to Dispensers at various clinic sites during course of work, monitoring performance; working closely with the other members of the Merlin Health Team
5. Maintains methods and manner of storage and recordkeeping systems to provide for safekeeping of pharmaceuticals in line with Merlin drug management and logistics guidelines (Keep both paper and computer records)
6. Follows established departmental policies, procedures, and objectives, continuous quality improvement objectives, and safety, environmental standards
7. Keep records of serious untoward incidents e.g. drug errors, poor quality, expired drugs as requested by Project Medical Coordinator.
8. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned, by the Project Coordinator or Logistics Team as long as these do not interfere with routine work tasks
9. Prepare and submit reports to all concerned within due time

3 REQUIREMENTS OF POSITION

3.1 MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy with a minimum of 2 years experience
• Or Doctor of Pharmacy with a minimum of 1 year experience
• Fluency English and local languages will be an advantage.
• Experience in dispensing and vaccination will be an advantage.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work as part of a team and demonstrate flexibility, motivation, and maturity
• Willingness to travel extensively in the different areas, as needed