Jamaica’s health-care sector will receive a massive boost with the establishment of a pharmaceutical sterile compounding laboratory at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

The sterile compounding laboratory, which is the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, will facilitate the preparation of medication that is customised to particular types of treatments and is free of contaminants.

The construction and retrofitting of the game-changing laboratory was funded by a donation of $21.5 million from the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, which is operated by the Government.

Speaking with JIS News, programme director in the Doctor of Pharmacy Programme at UWI, Mona, Dr Cameil Wilson-Clarke, said that the sterile compounding laboratory, which is expected to be commissioned by September, will aid significantly in supporting teaching, research and public health. It is a necessary training opportunity “for the students who are graduating from our programme”, she said.

Dr Wilson-Clarke noted that patient care will improve with the completion of the sterile compounding laboratory and the equipment will also improve efficiency among health-care workers. “One of the items we bought was a chemotherapy vertical hood and a biological safety cabinet, because we deal with hazardous drugs,” she said.

Dr Wilson-Clarke commended the CHASE Fund for its support of the sector.

“Their support gives us so many opportunities to improve training and access for patients to get better health care and safe medicine. Everyone is excited because we will be doing multiple mixes that paediatric patients will be benefiting from, so the paediatricians are very excited and pharmacists are also excited because there is an opportunity for training,” she added.

Also speaking with JIS News, CHASE Fund Project Manager Latoya Aquart-Foster says this laboratory is crucial to the sector for adhering to global best practices.

“With the combination of accreditation standards, regulations and legislation enforced today, it is no longer reasonable for sterile products preparation or administration to be learnt only while training on the job, so this lab will allow the pharmacy students to be trained before they go out in the job,” she noted.

According to Aquart-Foster, pharmacists islandwide will also be able to receive sterile compounding certification through the UWI Doctor of Pharmacy programme.

“Based on the rapidly changing landscape in sterile products, the personnel at the health centres need to prepare and train all mixing personnel on what they must do, why they must do it and the necessary decision-making hierarchy for real-world action regarding access, preparation and administration of sterile products,” she added.

Aquart-Foster told JIS News that the donation to facilitate the laboratory reinforces CHASE Fund’s commitment to its mandate, which she explained.

“CHASE looks at the health sector from a holistic perspective and we know that pharmacists play a great role in patient care and, therefore, we saw it fit to provide support to this project, not only because it is addressing the needs that exist for pharmacists but also that it has a training component, which is also a very keen area of focus for CHASE, the training of health professionals,” she says.

In the health sector, the CHASE Fund manages financing for projects that include building, upgrading, restoring and equipping health facilities; providing training for health-care practitioners; promoting healthy lifestyles; and developing and implementing programmes related to renal disease and cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care.