Senior Staff and Health Experts of the Ministry of Health together with some of the members of the Committee
By Landing Ceesay
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday inaugurated the National Medicines and Therapeutics Committee (NMTC).
The Committee will be a policy-recommending body that oversees medication management in the country’s health system.
The NMTC includes pharmacists, physicians, nurses, administrators, and risk and quality improvement managers.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Muhammad Lamin Jaiteh, Permanent Secretary at the Minister of Health said It is a high-level advisory body that oversees an organizational link between medical staff and the Pharmacy Departments.
“The Committee helps in making policies related to the use of various drugs in the healthcare system. It evaluates the case and advises Medical Staff and Organizational administrators in all matters about the use of medications. This body has several rules and objectives. Among the objectives is to oversee policies and procedures outlined in the bylaws, rules, regulations, and other organizational policies.
“It also improves the safety of drug therapy and improves therapeutic outcomes. Among the specific roles, this committee will play is to establish a meeting calendar and also to analyze and disseminate scientific, clinical, and health-economic aspects of medications and therapeutic classes to conduct drugs use evaluation and data analysis. It will also, record and archive the committee’s activities,” Mr. Jaiteh said.
Mr. Jaiteh said in the past, this specific assignment has been conducted and carried out by the Office of the Director of Health Services.
He said it is considered essential to constitute a diverse committee of various experts to support that system.
“Today (Tuesday) we are here happily to witness the inauguration of that important committee that has a lot of tasks ahead of them. We can say without a doubt that the caliber of individuals that constitute the committee and the leadership of the committee, we have every confidence that they will deliver to expectations and that the quality improvement that we all yearn for, will be attained. This initiative couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I want to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the chairperson of this committee and all the members for accepting this daunting task. The task is daunting because we know the criticality of medications in the health system of any country. In light of the current realities around the globe. We can only be comfortable and happy to have a committee like this to guide us through the processes,” he said.
The inauguration was graced by senior members and Health Experts of the Ministry of Health.