Why pharmacists are not good people

The other day I went to buy a prescription-only drug at one of the "cheapest" or rather, most affordable/cost-effective pharmacies in the city. I happened to have been in town early enough, and I decided to pop in, while mentally bracing myself for the long queues filled with bargain-hunters like myself, that are a permanent feature of this particular drug store and its sister stores.

With pleasure I noted that there was just a handful of clients, looking bored and impatient as they idled on the rather insufficient seat at the waiting bay of the cramped chemist. I made my way to the counter where I ordered a prescription-only anti-depressant, while simultaneously fumbling through my handbag for the prescription. Before I could fish it out, the attendant on the other side of the meshed counter had completed my order complete with a discount, without ever asking to see my prescription. He directed me to join the other clients/patients who were waiting impatiently on the bench, as a different pharmacist worked on filling my prescription and completing my order. A few minutes later, I was out and about with my prescription-only anti-depressant without having to show any prescription chit from a doctor.

In my years as a person suffering from depression, I have been to many pharmacies, but only a few ever insisted on a prescription before dispensing the prescription-only drugs I asked for. Musing about this later, a thought crossed my mind that pharmacists are not "good" people.

A pharmacist will never tell you, "You look/sound awfully sick or you've been coming here to get pills to relieve these symptoms for too long, don't you think you should see a doctor to get to the root of your symptoms?"

Instead, a pharmacist will ask  for your symptoms and give you something to relieve them. I guess the first rule of pharmacy is to take the money, always; never turn away a customer ( patient). Yet sometimes those seemingly little but niggling problems belie a serious underlying illness, that needs urgent attention, but a pharmacist will be happy to take your money and prescribe something to relieve the symptoms, even as the illness simmers and festers beneath the surface.

Banned drugs

I've seen pharmacists push anti-malarials on people who've not had their blood passed through a Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test. A pharmacist will sell you the absolute prescription-only abortion pill without a prescription. A pharmacist will sell you morning after pills without throwing in a cautionary “you should consider ‘regular’ contraceptives or even the possibility of HIV.” A pharmacist will sell you the one-tenth dose of antibiotics that you asked for as long as you slip the money across the counter, never mind that the world is grappling with the effects of misuse of anti-biotics in the form of drug-resistant bugs.

I once had a person standing behind the pharmacy counter prescribe Metakelfin (long after it had been banned alongside other sulfa-based anti-malarials such as Fansidar) as a way to prevent malaria just before I traveled to a malaria-prone region. It made me feel so sick, I had to go to a doctor, who informed me that that taking anti-malarials as a preventive measure before traveling to a malaria hot-spot was no longer recommended, not forgetting that I had ingested a banned drug and one I was allergic to too (I'm allergic to sulfa drugs).

Maybe I require too much from pharmacists, much more than they are cut out to be. Maybe they didn't take the Hippocratic Oath or any oath on patient safety and public health interest being paramount. Maybe those attendants who man pharmacy counters are not even real pharmacists, not even pharm-techs. Maybe they're just salespersons, placed there complete with sales targets. Maybe pharmacists are taught that the interests of the bottom line come above everything else.

Lastly, the self-medicating customer is also a fool who is easily parted with her/his money at the pharmacy and later in the hospital which s/he thought s/he'd dodged by bypassing the doctor and going straight to the pharmacy, after consulting Dr Google and/or a couple of strangers and friends.

Still, pharmacists are part of our health problems.

Woman to woman: The world is your oyster ... and other thoughts on scaling the heights

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with women who were going through a mentorship programme at one of the leading banks in Kenya. I listened and watched with a tinge of envy as the women talked about what being a part of that programme had done for them. It was heart-warming to hear about their transformation – the new confidence and self-belief – that changed the way they thought about themselves and their abilities in the workplace and the world at large. These were now formidable women who could take on any challenge in the world. They might feel fear and some self-doubt, but they would never balk in the face of the toughest assignment. They would put themselves out there for it. Spending time with them, I couldn’t help but wish that I was part of the programme they were in. That wasn’t possible, but I got a wealth of information those few hours I spent with them, and I’m sharing it with you.

Get a mentor

Mentorship changes everything. It helps you focus. It helps you dream bigger than you ever have. It helps you voice your fears and concerns and find a constructive way to deal with them. It gives you a sounding board. It gives you access to useful information, background, history, tricks and strategies … If you do nothing else on this list, get a mentor. Get a mentor early on in your career because this one step can help you rise higher and faster than the woman who tries to find her way around without mentorship. Structured mentorship programmes are particularly helpful.

Choose your associates wisely

Surround yourself with people who build you up, people who give you direction, people who give you good advice. Surround yourself with people and things that boost your confidence in yourself and your abilities and reduce contact with people and things that put you down and diminish your confidence in yourself and your capabilities.

Stop trying to be a superwoman

Don’t try to do it all (especially at home). You don’t have to be an impossibly perfect wife and/or mother. Build a support system in your husband and your house manager and children (if they are old enough) and equip them to handle some of the tasks, which you can then delegate to them so that you have time on your hands to do the things that you really want to focus on. You will feel happier, more fulfilled, less guilty, more at peace and more accomplished.

Dream big

You might feel afraid; you might feel doubtful about your skills, abilities and experience, but don’t let that niggling self-doubt keep you from applying for jobs or challenging tasks or high-level opportunities and positions. Feel the fear and put yourself out there anyway. Feel the doubt, but send your application anyway. The worst that can happen is that you will not get the job/opportunity. On the other hand, you might, with pleasant surprise, qualify for it; but you only get a chance if you put a foot in the door by sending your application. If you don’t put a foot in the door, you’ll be left wondering what if and what could have been if only you had tried. Don’t be caught in that what if cycle, try, try, try because you never know until you try. Open your eyes to the possibilities and be bold enough to give yourself a fighting chance. You are stronger than you think, more qualified than you imagine, and more capable than you believe. Do something that you think you cannot do. Stretch yourself. Don’t walk away from any challenge, rise to meet it head on, because you can.

Get to know your heroes

The women you admire - the women who have it all together – they have their own fears and insecurities, but they don’t allow them to stop them from reaching for the stars. Have a candid chat with a woman you admire and you might be surprised. She has also faced hurdles, even though it seems as if she had none or that she was luckier than most … She has faced the same obstacles and challenges that you have, but she didn’t let that stop her. She kept her eyes on the prize and kept pushing forward, jumping over one hurdle and the next as she made her way to her goals. Listen to her story, the one with warts and all and the one with big and small victories. You will be happy to learn that she is as human as you are and you will feel encouraged to pursue big dreams despite your perceived shortcomings and difficulties.

Know yourself and build your brand

Know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your likes and dislikes, your dreams and aspirations … then work on building your personal brand. What are your skills, strengths and talents? What do you want to be known and remembered for? What problems do you want to solve? Make sure what you are doing is visible by talking about it and sharing it on the various available platforms.

Pass it on

Take it upon yourself to share your story with other women, particularly those who are starting out. We all have the benefit of hindsight and experience. Talk about the challenges and how to go around them. Share the tricks, tips and strategies. Let them know how to find opportunities and keep pushing them to be the best they can be beyond gender stereotypes without tiring. Be a mentor and a guide so that they can rise higher faster than if they didn’t have someone to show them the way. That letter to your younger self, let it be heard to the women who are starting out where you did as a younger woman.

How a spending fast can help you boost your savings

Take a 40-day spending fast this Lent season to help you reach your financial goals faster.

You may not be a Catholic or a Christian, but the 40-day Lent season which starts today (Ash Wednesday), offers an opportunity for you to reach your financial goals faster by borrowing and observing one of the principles of Lent. Lent is a season of fasting, giving up something or self-denial. During Lent, many people choose to abstain/fast from one thing or another as a way to grow spiritually. You can apply the same principle to your money by going on a spending fast (also known as a financial fast or spending diet) for 30 or even 40 days, like Lent. Some people even choose to prolong the fast for a whole year to help them achieve a big goal like paying off debt faster, but as a beginner, I’d advise you take it slow then see if it is something you want to try for longer or every few months.

How it works:

For 40 days you just buy the things that are absolutely essential e.g. food, rent, school fees, etc, and leave out the rest. If you can buy some of the things you need during the fasting period in bulk so that you don’t keep going to the shops where you will find many temptations, the better. You can fast from eating out, alcohol, new clothes and shoes, accessories, some beauty treatments, travel, subscriptions, eating lunch at hotels during the work week, using your car every day if a matatu is cheaper (you know your weakness – that thing that you can do without but you keep spending money on it). If you won’t die for ditching it for the next 40 days, then you don’t need it (but that does not include taking a bath or basic grooming). If you have monitored your expenses continuously for a while, you will know exactly what to cut off because you know exactly where your money goes.

You can take measures like carrying packed lunch to work the whole week or at least three days a week instead of eating at a hotel or leaving your car at home and taking a matatu if the matatu is cheaper (you do the math.), taking a matatu instead of a taxi (as long as you are safe) and so on. Just check your budget and be ruthless about cutting out things you can cut out even if it’s just for three days a week.

Calculate how much you expect to save at the end of the 40 days by cutting out certain expenses and plan to put that cash somewhere safe like in your savings account or Mshwari lock account or a piggy bank or somewhere else of your choice, as long as you don’t touch it before the end of the fast. So if you were to spend Sh250 on lunch today but because of the spending fast you carry lunch from home for three days, put that money (Sh750) in your spending fast savings account or piggy bank. If you do that for six weeks (42 days), you’ll have saved Sh4500 by carrying lunch from home for only three days a week. If you carry lunch five days a week, you’ll save Sh7500 by the end of the 40 days. Now do the same with your weekend alcohol budget (you won’t die without it unless you are an alcoholic, in which case you need medical assistance), weekly coffee budget and those other small, small non-essential things you spend your money on without paying attention. Do the math and tell me if you still don’t have money to save, as many people told me when we started this (52-week saving) challenge.

To avoid feeling deprived, you can put some money in an envelope to spend as you wish during the 40 days of fasting, what we call “cheat days.” Be sure to put a date on that envelope e.g. March 1 to April 13 (when Lent ends). If you spend all the money in that envelope before April 13 or whichever date your 40-day spending fast ends, then you have no money left to cheat with so you’ll need to grit your teeth and forge forward; it is for a good cause after all. Plan your cheat days so that you have them spread out over six weeks, but do not assign too much money on your cheat days’ envelope. Alternatively, you can leave the envelope alone and give yourself a big treat at the end of the 40 days with that cash for making it through the fast.

Lastly, think about what you want to do with that cash that you are going to save during the 40-day financial fast: Will you use it to help pay off a loan you’ve been struggling with faster? Will you use it to buy those shares you always wanted to buy? Will you finally get to go on a getaway to get some much-needed rest after a lot of hard work? Will you use it to shore up your savings for the 52-week Savings Challenge? You get to decide what you want to do with the cash you’ve saved during the fast.

So will you give up anything for the next 40/42 days? What will you give up and how much do you expect to save by giving up those things for a short while? What will those savings help you achieve?


This post is brought to you by #SaveWithMshwari for the #52WeekChallenge

Join the 52-week Savings Challenge Kenya and network with people who are saving to reach their financial goals

Like and follow Super Savers Kenya on Facebook for more money management tips